A Yorkville man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after entering into a plea agreement for sexually assauting his stepdaughter repeatedly over a period of roughly 8 years. The victim was under the age of 13 during most of the time the assaults were committed.
Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis announced yesterday that Rafael Sanchez of Yorkville had peaded guilty to the charge of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child, a Class X felony. The plea and sentence were approved by Judge Jody Gleason.
A joint investigation by the Aurora Police Department and the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office began back in 2022 when a victim disclosed to police that when she was a child, she had been sexually assaulted by her stepfather. The sexual assaults, which occurred in both Aurora and unincorporated Kendall County, started in the late 1990’s and continued into 2007.
Charges were filed in both Kendall and Kane counties in 2023, and Sanchez was taken into custody. He remained in custody of Kendall County since he was arrested by law enforcement.
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Sanchez entered a plea of guilty to one count of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Kendall County. Sanchez entered the same plea agreement in Kane County. Both sentences will be served consecutive to each other for a total of 20 years in prison. The plea agreements will require Sanchez to serve 85% of his 20-year total sentence before being eligible for Mandatory Supervised Release.
