Illinois man sentenced to 30 years for sexually abusing four child relatives for nearly two decades
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A North Aurora man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, after pleading guilty to sexually abusing and sexually assaulting four child relatives he was babysitting over the course of nearly two decades.
Jaime Reyes, 70, pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child and one count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child on Nov. 19, on the same day he was set to go on trial, according to the Kendall County State's Attorney's office.
As part of a negotiated plea deal, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors said, from the late 1990s until 2017, he sexually abused four separate victims. Reyes was the victims' uncle and occasional babysitter.
Kendall County Sheriff's officials said they began investigating in October 2017, after one of the victims came forward about the abuse. Reyes was charged in February 2022, after an extensive investigation.
Prosecutors said the abuse started when the victims were between 5 and 8 years old, when he would isolate the victims to take advantage of them until they reached the age of puberty.
"There is no doubt that the world is a safer place with Reyes being in custody. For years, he took advantage of the trust that his family members had in him to supervise and take care of their young children," Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said in a statement. "He preyed on those who were sometimes too young to even understand what was happening. He is a true predator. My hope is that the victims have some comfort in knowing that Reyes will remain in custody forever. I also want to commend the bravery of the victims for coming forward so that this dangerous person can never do this again to anyone."
Reyes was being held at the Big Muddy Correctional Center, a medium security prison in southern Illinois.
