Editor’s Note: On August 24, 2012, the Northern Star redacted the name of a student originally named in this story. The student and various legal entities provided evidence to the Northern Star that the student had the charges discussed in this article expunged from his record, as he was not convicted of them. The Northern Star does not typically remove the names of those charged with crimes and will not do so upon request except in special circumstances, as in this case. The student’s name was redacted because he was found not guilty and his record was expunged. As the Northern Star strives for transparency in all cases, the story was left completely unaltered except to replace the source’s name with [Redacted]. The archived print edition remains unaltered.

NIU wrestler [Redacted], who was charged with criminal sexual abuse in October, appears to have had his record cleared after he was found not guilty May 11.

A check of court records by the Northern Star returned nothing relating to the case, indicating that the record likely was expunged.

An employee of the circuit clerk’s office at the court house said expunging records is not uncommon, with from one to maybe five or six requests each month.

After filing the request to expunge and paying the $60 fee, a judge hears the case and usually grants the request, a clerk’s office employee said.

Once granted, certified copies of the order are sent to police agencies, instructing them to destroy any records of the case.

The county then would black out any references in the ledger book and delete computer files, the employee said.

Unless files are expunged, the clerk permanently retains records of cases.

[Redacted], 20, and NIU student and Sycamore resident Brandon Alexander were charged with criminal sexual abuse for separate incidents in July 2003 involving the same 15-year-old girl.

Alexander pleaded guilty to the original charge in March and was fined $500 and sentenced to one year of court supervision.

The sentence was vacated when the court was informed that criminal sexual abuse required listing the offender in the state sex-offender database and that he would not be eligible for court supervision.

Prosecution then charged Alexander with battery in the incident. Alexander pleaded guilty March 30.

He was sentenced to 24 months in jail with conditional release upon payment of $954 in restitution and fines, which he paid. It also was ruled that he is not to have unsupervised visits with female minors unless they are family members.

Associate Athletics Director Robert Collins said [Redacted] is expected to participate in NIU wrestling this season.

[Redacted], Alexander and NIU wrestling coach Dave Grant were not available for comment.