April 25, 2024

JOLIET— Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has announced that Quinton Jenkins, 41, of Joliet, was sentenced today to 23 years in prison for Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child (a Class X felony). Jenkins pled guilty March 8 and was sentenced today by Circuit Judge David Carlson.

On December 1, 2018, Jenkins and the victim’s mother had arranged for Jenkins to take her 11-year-old son to a birthday party in Joliet that the mother was unable to attend. Jenkins and the mother had previously met, and Jenkins offered to take the boy to the party when the mother told him she was not able to go. Instead, Jenkins took the boy to an apartment he was staying in at the time and proceeded to sexually assault him. The boy then called the mother and after the mother unsuccessfully tried to call the boy back numerous times, the Joliet Police were alerted. Jenkins was located and arrested. The boy was taken to Presence St. Joseph Medical Center.

“What should have been a fun afternoon at a birthday party turned into a life-altering nightmare for this young boy because of the horrific sexual assault by this serial child predator with a history of taking advantage of young children,” Glasgow said. “This case demonstrates that boys as well as girls are all-too-often the victims of sexual abuse. Sadly, many times, children keep silent about the abuse because they don’t fully understand it, are afraid of the abuser, or feel ashamed about something that was in no way their fault. This young boy should be commended for his courage in speaking up about the abuse.”

Jenkins will serve the sentence at 85 percent and will receive 1971 days credit for time served along with lifetime registration as a child sex offender and 3 years to the rest of his life on mandatory supervised release. He previously was convicted of sexual abuse in two cases involving minors in Iowa for which he served 10 years in prison.

Glasgow thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Amanda Tasker, Jeff Brown, and Mary Fillipitch, Victim Witness Advocate Mallory Magee, Legal Secretary Danna Thayer, Joliet Police Department Detective Tizoc Landeros and over a dozen other Joliet officers, as well as Dr. Sangita Rangala of Endeavor Health for their hard work in this matter. Glasgow also thanked Will County Children’s Advocacy Center Forensic Interviewer Cruz Arzuaga for her victim sensitive interview of the child.

The CAC was established by Glasgow in 1995 to offer services and advocacy to children who are victims of sexual abuse and severe physical abuse. Forensic interviews of children are conducted at the CAC after there has been a report to law enforcement or DCFS of severe physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child pornography, neglect, or exposure to violence. The CAC uses a collaborative approach to taking a child’s statement with multi-disciplinary team members that include law enforcement, mental health professionals, prosecution, and child protective services (DCFS), with the child telling their story once to a trained forensic interviewer who asks the questions in a non-leading manner in a way that does not re-traumatize the child. This protects the integrity of the information gathered and allows prosecutors and investigators to thoroughly assess possible criminal offenses that may have been committed. Annually, the Will County CAC serves more than 700 children who have endured physical and sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child pornography, neglect, and exposure to violence.