RICHLAND CO.— In a case one courthouse worker said is “the most twisted thing I have ever seen,” a mother and son both were charged with having sex with each other.
According to court documents, Carla Sue Kennedy, 38 and her son Elijah M. Kimmel, 18, both of 217 East South St., Apt. B, Olney, were charged with Sexual Relations Within Families, the state’s watered-down legal terminology for incest.
Information filed in the case alleges that on October 23, while at their East South Avenue home in Olney, “Carla Kennedy, knowing that she is related to Elijah Kimmel as his mother, and Kimmel, knowing he was Kennedy’s son, knowingly committed an act of sexual penetration in that he placed his penis in her vagina.”
The mother of the family was booked into the Richland County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond, while her son was booked into the same jail on a $2,000 cash bond.
Kennedy convicted sex offender off radar
Kennedy, originally from Lawrenceville, was arrested and charged in 2005 with Criminal Sexual Assault of a Family Member/Aggravated Battery of a Child. As part of a plea agreement, Kennedy pled guilty to the sexual assault and the battery charge was amended down to simple Battery for which she was sentenced to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and ordered to pay $1,043 in fines and fees, of which she still owes $1,000.
Available court documents don’t reveal the name, age, gender or any other identifiers of the child who was assaulted, so it is completely unclear as to whether Kimmel, or some other poor child, was the victim at the time.
However, also in 2005, a Richland County Order of Protection was granted on behalf of Paul L. Schanda against Kennedy.
In addition to her most recent charge of Incest, Kennedy was charged with Sex Offender Failing to Register Address Change.
Kennedy takes plea
On November 7 of this year, Kennedy pled guilty to both the incest charge and the failing to register change of address.
Courthouse personnel were left shaking their heads when they discovered that Kennedy received a sentence of only four years in IDOC.
The low sentence could very well be the result of screwed up sentencing guidelines the judge was required to follow.
However, many have wondered for years why state’s attorney David Hyde has babied sex offenders for more than a decade.
Arguably Hyde could have done the work to have Kennedy adjudged a sexually dangerous person, which would have taken her off the streets for the better part of the rest of her life instead of having her released back into the public to reoffend after a couple of years behind bars, since it’s so difficult for a sex offender to rehabilitate.
Kimmel threatens with knife
In addition to his incest charge, Kimmel was charged with a single count of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon identified as a knife.
On Oct 10, 2014, Kimmel pulled a knife on Paul Schanda, of the 2005 OP Kennedy was named in, and made threats.
Kimmel pled guilty to that charge Oct. 23 and was sentenced to 18 months conditional discharge and ordered to pay $397 in fines and fees, of which he has paid nothing.
The outcome of the incest charge against him is pending.
Authorities question Hyde’s motives
“I don’t know why David Hyde seems to want to protect or go easy on sex offenders,” said one area police official. “There have been rumors that he has some problems of his own in that area.”
Since taking office Hyde has gained a reputation for aggressively prosecuting some cases while coming close to acting as an advocate for young boys who find themselves the subject of criminal arrest.
Kimmel is expected back in court later this month.