KANE COUNTY—Joseph J. Charron, 68, formerly known as Brother Andre Charron, was sentenced to 30 months of probation and 180 days imprisonment, according to a news release from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. He received credit for 695 days of home confinement.

 

Kane County Judge Julia Yetter accepted the plea agreement on March 28.

 

Charron, now of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., is a monk in the Order of St. Benedict for 41 years at Marmion Abbey in Aurora and was a teacher at Marmion Academy from 2008 to 2021. 

 

The plea agreement stated that he made “contacts of an insulting and provoking nature with the victim,” who was 15 to 17 years old at the time, according to the news release. 

 

Charron will have to undergo a sex offender evaluation and is prohibited from unsupervised contact with minors under 18.

 

Charron was originally charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault with force or threat of force and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor with force or threat of force. 

 

When he was charged in April 2022, Aurora police said the alleged abuse and assaults happened between Dec. 24, 2008, and July 12, 2015. They began when the victim was a student and continued after he graduated. The victim made the allegations in 2021.

 

On March 29, Abbot Joel Rippinger, OSB notified all parents and staff at Marmion of the charges in a letter saying, “It is with a heavy heart, I write to notify you that yesterday, in Kane County Circuit Court, Joseph Charron, known to many in our community as Brother Andre, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated battery of a minor. There was no plea or judgment entered as to any sex offense.”  

 

The letter also stated, “When the allegations were first brought to our attention in 2021, we immediately contacted the Aurora Police Department.  In an abundance of caution and in compliance with our process and procedures, Brother Andre was removed from the school, and his access to the school prohibited. That restriction on Brother Andre remains and he will be living out of state.  Throughout the process, Marmion fully cooperated with authorities as the investigation proceeded.”  

 

According to Ellen Lynch, General Counsel for the Diocese of Rockford, “The Kane County court record shows that Joseph Charron was convicted of aggravated battery in a public place, which is not a sexual offense. However the original allegation against Brother Charron is under review by his religious order and the diocese expects to soon be notified of the conclusion of that review.”  

 

Should that allegation be substantiated, Charron will be added to the diocesan public list of clergy against whom a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of minor has been made.