January court date scheduled for Forreston man charged with sexual assault

OREGON – A Forreston man is scheduled to appear in court again on charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl in 2016 and 2017.

Michael A. Gaston, 67, appeared in court Wednesday, Dec. 14, with his attorney Aaron Buscemi for a pretrial conference before Ogle County Judge John Redington.

Redington granted the defense’s motion to continue the conference to 1 p.m. Jan. 31. Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten did not object.

Gaston was charged May 1 with six counts of criminal sexual assault. According to court documents, the incidents occurred in May and December 2016 and January, February and March 2017. He pleaded not guilty to the charges May 26 and has requested a jury trial.

Forreston police received a report of a sexual abuse incident Feb. 18, began an investigation and arrested Gaston in May, Chief Chris Thiel said in a news release.

Bail was set at $100,000; he posted $10,000 bond May 3 and was released.

Gaston was a bus driver with Forrestville Valley School District 221 but was fired March 1, according to the March 15 school board minutes.

Alexa Zoellner contributed to this story.