Joliet man sentenced to 87 years for sexual assault of 6-year old girl

September 19

JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced today that a Joliet man was sentenced to 87 years in prison for sexually assaulting the 6-year-old daughter of his girlfriend in October of 2008.

A jury deliberated in March for less than four hours before convicting Jesse R. Perez, 32, of 412 Oneida St., of two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault. Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced Perez on Wednesday.

Perez was supposed to take the girl to a relative’s house, but he took her instead to his apartment where he sexually assaulted her.  Judge Policandriotes noted the relationship between the defendant and the victim as well as the injuries the girl suffered when she handed down the strong sentence.

“Jesse Perez is a deviant pedophile who will spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing the innocence of a little girl and inflicting tremedous physical and emotional harm on her,” said State’s Attorney Glasgow. “This is the kind of violation that must be prosecuted aggressively and punished harshly. Judge Policandriotes sent a strong message through this sentence that such a crime against children will never be tolerated.”  

Glasgow thanked Assistant State’s Attorney’s Mark Fleszewski and Katie Tinich for their expert trial work that secured this important conviction and sentence.