A 24 year old Mt. Carmel man has been sentenced to five years in prison on a Class 1 felony count of criminal sexual assault. Michael Haase was arrested in July 2022 by Mt. Carmel Police after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant was the result of a two and half month investigation that began when Wabash County Sheriff Derek Morgan’s office received a report alleging Haase committed criminal sexual assault.

Haase’s case was scheduled to go to a jury trial on February 3rd, but during a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, Haase changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to the five year term in the Department of Corrections to be followed by three years to life of mandatory supervised release or parole. Haase will have to serve at least 85% of the prison sentence and register as a sex offender upon his release.

Haase, who had been free on a $10,000 cash bond, surrendered to the Wabash County Sheriff’s Department Thursday afternoon to await transport to the DOC.