Naperville man gets 12 years for sexually assaulting teen

A Naperville man who presented a teen girl with a bouquet of flowers before he sexually assaulted her was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison.

Alejandro Garduno, 58, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault in connection with the February 2006 attack in Naperville.

Prosecutors said Garduno met the victim through a relative in Mexico and later paid her costs to come the United States.

On the day of the assault, he gave the girl, then 15, a bouquet of flowers, Assistant State's Attorney Anne Therieau told DuPage County Judge George Bakalis. In a subsequent interview, Garduno told investigators he knew the victim was a minor and “it was wrong to have sex with her,” Therieau said.

Garduno could have faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted at trial.

By law, he must serve at least 10 years, with credit for more than two years in the county jail, and also must register as a sex offender for life.

Garduno, who told the court he is an illegal immigrant, also is likely to be deported upon his release from prison, authorities said.