Elgin man, 26, sentenced to 28 years in sex case
from submitted reports December 13, 2012 5:24PM
Sergio Cortes
Updated: January 15, 2013 11:36AM
ST. CHARLES TWP. — An Elgin man will head to prison for up to 28 years after pleading guilty to having sexual contact with two minor girls he knew.
Sergio Cortes, 26, of the 300 block of North Spring Street, Elgin, agreed to a sentence of 28 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections Thursday in exchange for a guilty plea to one count of predatory criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony.
Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti accepted the plea.
Evidence showed that between Oct. 11, 2009, and Dec. 21, 2010, Cortes had sexual contact with a young girl he knew who was younger than 13 years old at the time.
Between Oct. 1, 2010, and Dec. 23, 2010, Cortes also had sexual contact with another young girl he knew who was younger than 18 years old at the time.
The sentence is 22 years for the Class X felony and six years for the Class 2 felony. The terms are to be served consecutively. In addition, Cortes must register for life in accordance with the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act.
Under Illinois law, Cortes must serve at least 85 percent of the Class X sentence but he is eligible for day-for-day sentence reduction on the Class 2 sentence. Cortes was given credit for 721 days served in the Kane County jail.
The case was prosecuted by Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Debra Bree, who is assigned to the Kane County Child Advocacy Center.
