My name is Jason Matthews.

As a child, I was falsely charged with predatory criminal sexual abuse of a child. I was arrested in the middle of class. The next thing I remember is waking up in an ambulance..I don’t even know if I ever made it to a hospital before being taken to jail.

I was a kid, but I was placed in adult population on a $100,000 bond. I had no attorney. I was facing a minimum of 8 years and up to 90 years in prison. Then suddenly, I was offered 33 months probation…a “deal” that allowed me to go home.

Why would someone accused of such a horrific crime be given a deal that light? Because the case was never real in the first place.

 • The supposed “victim’s” mother admitted she never made a report.

 • Instead, she asked neighborhood kids who owned a “condom” she found. (WCIA reported this.)

 • Police never interviewed the alleged victim.

 • There was no DNA, no evidence, no investigation.

Yet I was still arrested, beaten unconscious by police, and thrown into a system built to destroy me.

That arrest cost me my scholarships. It derailed my education and changed my future forever. Why? To protect corrupt officials from the civil liability of ruining a child’s life.

The most painful part? The alleged victim didn’t even know I had been charged. She had no idea she was considered a “victim.” Yet I was forced to register as an “offender against children.”

Years later, she and I went to court together and told the truth. The judge even acknowledged what happened. But nothing changed, because registration is considered “not punishment” under the law. My actual sentence ended when I was still a teenager…but the punishment has never stopped.

Almost six years ago, the Illinois administration itself reached out to me and requested that I file for a pardon. I did. And then I was ignored.

They have time to celebrate at fairs, post on social media, and talk about “helping people.” But they don’t have time to act on a case where a child was wrongfully destroyed by their system. I’ve submitted petitions with thousands of signatures…and still, no response.

I am punished every single day for a crime that never happened. Even the supposed victim has said she was never victimized.