The bond hearing for a former teacher facing charges for criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse has been reset for later this month. 29-year old James T. Dierkes made an appearance in Fayette County Court on Tuesday morning for what was a schedule hearing for a motion to reduce bond. Defense attorney Brian Polinske acknowledged to the court that they were waiting on discovery in the case and a response to discovery and requested the matter be continued at this time. With no objection from the state, the hearing was reset for January 28 at 11am.
Dierkes is charged with ten counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse as part of two cases with two separate victims. Bond for Dierkes was set at $1 million on the original case before an additional $500,000 was added as part of the additional nine counts filed against the defendant in mid-December. Dierkes has remained in custody of the Fayette County Jail on the $1.5 million bond since his arrest in early December.
Dierkes is a former art teacher who taught at the Okaw Area Vocational from 2012 to 2018 before leaving the school to become an Illinois State Police Officer, a position he has held for the last year since graduating from the ISP Academy and completing field training this past Spring. The alleged crimes in the two cases he is charged with are said to have allegedly taken place between August 2016 and September 2019.
