Granite City man sentenced for sexually abusing girls, ages 5 and 6

A Granite City man was sentenced to 27 years and six months in an Illinois prison after pleading guilty in a St. Clair County circuit court to sexually assaulting two young girls over a six-year period.

Wiliam J. Droeger, 43, whose most recent address was on Old Alton Road, admitted in a plea deal Friday to single counts of criminal sexual assault and predatory criminal sexual abuse.

He initially was charged with 13 counts that detailed the nature and range of the sexual assaults. The two counts to which he pleaded guilty specified penetrative sex with his two female victims, who were 5- and 6-years-old when the abuse began, according to court records.

The remaining 11 charges have been dismissed as part of the plea, the court ordered.

The known assaults began in November 2011 and ended in February 2017, according to the complaint filed in 2021 by the Mascoutah Police Department.

In addition to the 27-year sentence, of which he must serve at least 85%, Droeger will have to register with the state as a sexual predator for the remainder of his life.