Cora Belk, 75, stood in front of the judge for less than five minutes pleading guilty to a criminal misdemeanor of improper disposal of animal remains.
What was her sentence? A $50 fine plus court costs totaling $407.
It was the best possible outcome in the courtroom Tuesday according to State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz.
"We felt the most important outcome was [that] she has counseling and treatment, and she has voluntarily engaged in that," Umholtz said.
Um, OK, well then what happens when she doesn't want to voluntarily seek treatment any longer?
Belk allowed a television crew to film inside her home back in September. The show aired at the end of January and showed more than 20 animal remains inside the home.
That was the first time police and prosecutors learned about what was inside.
"Our preference would of been this incident would of been reported at the time by the city employee that was present. That did not occur," Umholtz said.
It made it difficult to build a case.
"We had no ability to analyze any animal remains to determine the manner or cause of death," he said.
Did they try a bone marrow test?
Umholtz says with the charge, Belk could have been placed on probation but said that isn't necessary.
"More important than the fine is that this individual gets help," he said.
This must be State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz's first rodeo with hoarding. He thinks that he can let these people walk away with a promise to seek mental health counseling and then everything will be rainbows and unicorns and the grandmotherly looking Belk will never do it again. Unfortunately, because of Illinois' lack of training provided to their prosecuting attorneys, more animals will suffer and die at Belk's hands.
He said as of right now, there will be no additional charges regarding this case. But the city code enforcer, Ron Sieh, was also featured in the show and is currently on administrative leave while the city does an internal investigation.
(Central Illiniois Proud - March 1, 2016)
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