A 46-year old St. Elmo man had a charge of sex offender registration violation dropped in Fayette County Court Tuesday following a preliminary hearing. Gerald Allen was charged with one count of violating Illinois Sex Offender Registration laws by allegedly being within 100 feet of a school bus stop. In a preliminary hearing, St. Elmo Police Chief Micheal Riley testified that he had previous knowledge of Allen due to knowledge that Allen was allegedly living within 500 feet of the St. Elmo Grade School which is also a violation under Illinois law, when he witnessed Allen in the passenger seat of a vehicle located at 2nd and Oak Streets in St. Elmo. When questioned by public defender Ed Potter, Riley could not recall or state that Allen was for sure within 100 feet of the intersection that is known to be a property line of the St. Elmo Grade School. Due to the testimony, Judge Daniel Hartigan found no probable cause and the case was dismissed. Following the dismissal, Fayette County State’s Attorney Joshua Morrison said the county intends to re-file a previous charge against Allen that was initially not prosecuted by the county in relation to the matter.