Judge: Bickerstaff journals inadmissible

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DIXON – A Lee County Circuit judge has tossed out the handwritten journals of Charles L. Bickerstaff, the 57-year-old retired Boy Scout leader charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse.

In a ruling handed down Monday, Judge Stephen Pemberton ruled that Lee County sheriff's deputies seized Bickerstaff’s handwritten material unconstitutionally while executing a search warrant for child pornography in his Woodland Shores home in April 2007.

The ruling now calls into question the integrity of further investigative work done by police, who say the journals corroborate the statements of two alleged victims.

Lee County State's Attorney Paul Whitcombe said, however, that the ruling will have a minimal impact on  his case against Bickerstaff and will not deter his office from pursuing a conviction.

Bickerstaff is charged with raping two boys, aged 16 and 12, between 1998 and 2001.

Lee County Sheriff's deputies and Dixon Police believe, however, that Bickerstaff engaged in a pattern of child exploitation that resulted in several more victims.

Bickerstaff, in Lee County jail on $4 million bond, has maintained his innocence since his arrest in April 2007.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Dixon Telegraph/ Daily Gazette