A former Sherrard woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a Class X felony of involuntary sexual servitude of a minor in Mercer County Circuit Court Monday.
The sentence was handed to 41-year-old Jennifer Younge. She was arrested in March of 2023 in a sex abuse investigation by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. At the time, she was also charged with a Class 1 felony of permitting sexual abuse of a child, three Class 1 felony counts of criminal sexual assault, and one Class 2 felony count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Younge originally pleaded not guilty to all charges in April of 2023.
A co-defendant in the case, Jeffrey Smith, died in May of 2023, awaiting trial on seven felony counts -including criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, grooming, and exploitation of a child.