Archer sentenced to 8 years in prison

Peoria Journal Star, The (IL)

Granville man caused the death of his 3-year-old foster daughter

Author: GARY L. SMITH

Matthew Archer was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday for causing the death of a 3-year-old foster child in his Granville home just over a year ago by a knee-drop onto the girl's abdomen as she lay on the floor.

Circuit Judge Scott Shore said he stopped short of the 10-year maximum Archer could have received for involuntary manslaughter largely because he had no prior criminal record and had lived a law-abiding life before the events that ended the life of little Jordan Cain.

But because of the seriousness of the offense, compounded by Archer's lack of honesty about his actions, "a substantial sentence is necessary," Shore said during the sentencing hearing in Putnam County Circuit Court.

Archer, 29, probably will serve only a little more than three years after day-for-day credit, time already served in county jail and other factors are considered, both his defense attorney and the county prosecutor said after the hearing.

Archer originally was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child after Jordan's death in October 2003. Jordan was a niece of the woman who was then his girlfriend and is now his wife, Janice Schryer Archer.

Evidence at his trial a month ago indicated the child died from internal hemorrhaging after the 153-pound Archer's knee dropped onto her with such force that it ruptured arteries and bruised her spinal column.

A murder conviction would have meant a minimum 20-year prison term. Jurors instead found him guilty of the involuntary manslaughter charge Shore included as an option in jury instructions over the objections of State's Attorney James Mack.

Defense attorney Kevin Sullivan, who had called the manslaughter finding "a very favorable verdict," emphasized that the offense is legally defined as a non-intentional act. He argued for intensively controlled probation, partly on the grounds Archer's wife and their own daughter would suffer financial hardships if he were imprisoned for a significant length of time.

Seeking the 10-year term, Mack called attention to the severity of the girl's injuries.

"It was not a slight blow. It was a heavy blow, and it was not accidental," Mack said.

Archer, wearing orange and white jail clothing, read a brief statement saying he "did not intend to harm" the girl but felt morally responsible for her death. "Nobody knows how sorry I am that Jordan is gone." Shore cited Archer's admitted failure to give police or medical personnel complete or accurate information about what had happened to the child as a major factor in sentencing. That caused delays in diagnosis and treatment that might have made a difference in the girl's fate, the judge said.

"Your primary interest was in saving yourself" rather than helping the girl, Shore said. "It would be difficult to forgive you for that."

Christy Cain, Jordan's mother and the sister of Janice Archer, said after the hearing that she thought Archer should have been convicted of murder and should have received a longer sentence. Jordan had been removed from her and husband, Brian Cain, because of their substance abuse problems, and they believed she would be safe in the Archer household, she said in a victim impact statement.