Man Tells Police He Had Sex with Child Victim 400 Times: Prosecutor

A Joliet man told police he began sexually abusing a young girl when she was just 6 years old, and had sex with her more than 400 times in the ensuing 10 or more years, a Will County prosecutor said in court today.

Jason Hagerstrom, 35, of 1226 N. Raynor Ave., has admitted to oral, anal and conventional sex and other forms of sexual contact with the victim, who is now 17, Assistant State's Attorney Frank Byers told Judge Roger Rickmon during Hagerstrom's bond hearing.

Bond was set at $5 million.

After the hearing, Byers said it's likely more charges will be added to the 18 felonies Hagerstrom currently faces when the case goes to the grand jury a few weeks from now. He declined to offer any other details about the allegations, such as when and where the sexual assaults occurred.

Police learned of the situation when the victim's mother brought the young woman to the Joliet Police Department, where she made a videotaped statement about her underage contact with Hagerstrom, Byers said.

Hagerstrom was taken into custody Saturday and charged with five counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, 10 counts of criminal sexual assault, two counts of aggravated child pornography and one count of child pornography.

He has voluntarily provided extensive information about his sexual contact with the girl and consented to a police search of his car and cell phone, on which they discovered two videos of Hagerstrom and his victim unclothed and having sex, Byers said.

By Hagerstrom's own account, he had various forms of sex with victim as many as 400 times between 2001 and 2012, Byers said.

No attorney represented Hagerstrom at the Monday afternoon bond hearing, and he was not asked to enter a plea on the charges. He appeared emotionless and soft-spoken during the courtoom hearing, which he attended via video from a room at the Will County jail.

His only interaction with the judge was to verify that his income prior to his arrest was $3,500 a month and his expenses $1,650.

Although Hagerstrom has no previous criminal history, Byers asked that bond be set at $5 million in light of Hagerstrom's potential sentence to as many as 120 years in prison if convicted on all of the counts.

Rickmon ordered Hagerstrom to have no contact with the victim or her family. His next court hearing was set for Jan. 7.

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