Quincy man accepts plea deal, gets four years in prison for August 2023 abuse case tacked on to previous six-year sentence

QUINCY — A Quincy man was sentenced Thursday morning to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after agreeing to a negotiated plea.

Zion Byrd-White, 25, appeared with public defender Kevin Bross in Adams County Circuit Court before Circuit Judge Tad Brenner. Byrd-White had been charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a person between the ages of 13 and 17, a Class 2 felony.

As part of the plea negotiation, Byrd-White pled guilty to an amended charge of one count of criminal sexual abuse, a Class 4 felony. A bill of indictment said he knowingly committed an act of sexual conduct on Aug. 5, 2023, in that he touched the vagina of a girl with his penis for the purpose of sexual gratification or arousal, and the defendant was unable to give knowing consent.

Detectives with the Quincy Police Department initiated an investigation on Aug. 5 after a complaint was made that Byrd-White was engaging in sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old female. During the investigation, a search warrant was executed at Byrd-White’s residence in the 700 block of N. Seventh. Byrd-White was arrested on Aug. 18, 2023.

If Byrd-White had been found guilty of this charge by a jury, he could have received a sentence of between one and six years in the Illinois Department of Correction because he was eligible for extended-term sentencing.

The three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse were dismissed as part of the plea negotiation.

The four-year sentence will be served consecutively with a six-year sentence in connection to three other cases for a total of 10 years. Byrd-White received 30 months of probation after he pled guilty to possession of a stolen firearm in a 2018 case, guilty to burglary in a 2019 case and guilty to the manufacturing and delivery of between 30 and 500 grams of cannabis in a 2020 case.

His probation was revoked when he was arrested in the sexual abuse case. 

Byrd-White, who must register as a sex offender, was given credit for 525 days in the Adams County Jail. Brenner also put in place for Byrd-White a permanent civil no-contact order for the girl he assaulted.