MARION COUNTY — A 53-year-old Centralia man has been resentenced to 7 years in prison after the Fifth Appellate Court remanded his sexual assault case back to Marion County for review.

On Tuesday Judge Mark Stedelin resentenced Carl Privatt Tuesday on a reduced charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and sentenced him to the maximum allowed of 7 years. After calculating day-for-day credit for the time Privatt had already served, he was released to parole.

He’d waived his right to a jury trial in the 2019 case and was instead tried by Judge Mark Stedelin who found him guilty of a Class X felony charge of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 13.

Privatt challenged his mental fitness to serve a sentence for his May 2019 conviction. A mental fitness examination was ultimately conducted and completed, with the expert finding Privatt mentally fit. Judge Stedelin then sentenced Privatt to 20 years in prison.

Upon appeal, the court found the state did not properly prove the Class X predatory criminal sexual assault charge and reduced the conviction to the Class 2 felony of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse.