Mascoutah music teacher sentenced on charges he sexually abused students at his home

A private music teacher in Mascoutah has pleaded guilty to multiple sex offense charges and given a three-year prison sentence.

Reid Setterlund, 48, was arrested in 2023 on charges of abusing two girls under the age of 18 at his home, the Mascoutah Police Department said.

Setterlund taught private music lessons from his home, police said.

He pleaded guilty on Dec. 5 to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse/victim under 18, according to St. Clair County Court Records.

As part of a plea bargain, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse was dismissed.

Along with the three-year prison sentence, Setterlund also was given two years probation, according to a Dec. 5 order by Circuit Judge Zina Cruse.

Cruse also ordered that Setterlund must register as a “sexual predator for life.”

According to the three aggravated criminal sexual abuse counts, a victim under 13 was abused between October 2021 and November 2022.

Illinois Department of Corrections records show that Setterlund’s parole date of Dec. 9 is listed as the same as his admission date into the Department of Corrections. An agency spokeswoman said this means he did not have to serve time in a state prison. Instead, the department lists his location as “Parole District 1” but doesn’t release other details.

The Illinois State Police sex offender registry lists Setterlund’s location as the 800 block of 15th Street in North Chicago.

Setterlund’s projected discharge date from parole is Dec. 9, 2025, according to Department of Corrections records.

Dr. Daniel Cuneo, a psychologist who examined Setterlund, stated in a December 2023 report that Setterlund told him “it was all innocence.”

“It was misconstrued,” Setterlund said, according to Cuneo’s report. “Every day I try to hide my depression so I acted goofy around them (his students). I will not allow myself in any situation that could be misconstrued.”

Cuneo concluded in the report: “Clearly his actions with his students appeared to be grooming. Yet Mr. Setterlund denied or minimized any wrongdoing and insisted that his behavior had been misconstrued and insisted that he does not even like sex.”

Setterlund scored low on an assessment conducted to determine whether he would reoffend or commit a violent offense, Cuneo wrote.

“It would be my opinion that he is not a sexual predator.”

Neither a representative of the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office nor Grant Menges, the defense attorney for Setterlund, could be reached for comment on Tuesday.

This story was originally published December 11, 2024 at 5:00 AM.