Between January 2017 and February 2020, Luis Alberto Najera Ayala, 48, sexually assaulted a child under 12 years of age multiple times. He will now likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser announced today that Judge Alice C. Tracy has sentenced Ayala to 45 years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Ayala knew the victim, who was younger than 12 years old. The victim heard a presentation at school about personal body safety and told her mother about the assaults.
In May, a jury found Ayala guilty of six counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony.
The sentence is 42 years for the predatory criminal sexual assault offenses and 3 years for the aggravated criminal sexual abuse offense. He faced a minimum sentence of 36 years in prison.
According to Illinois law, Ayala must serve at least 85 percent of the predatory criminal sexual assault sentence and is eligible for day-for-day sentencing on the aggravated criminal sexual abuse sentence.
He receives credit for 886 days served in the Kane County jail.
In addition to the prison term, Ayala must register for life as a sexual offender in accordance with the Illinois Sexual Offender Registration Act.
“This defendant is a textbook sexual predator,” Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Lori Schmidt said in a statement. “He repeatedly preyed on a young child who should have been able to trust him. It is fitting that he most likely will spend the rest of his life in prison. I wish to thank the staffs at the Elgin Police Department, the Advocate Sherman Hospital and Advocate Lutheran Children’s Hospital, and the Illinois State Police Crime Lab. Thanks also to ASA Wittman, Investigator Dave Smith, forensic interviewer Kasandra Osorio and victim advocate Andrea Nava, all of the Kane County Child Advocacy Center.”
