Warrenville man convicted of raping 5-year-old in 2000
A judge Monday convicted a 30-year-old man on charges that he raped a 5-year-old girl while he was living with her family in North Aurora in the summer of 2000.
Adrian Ramirez-Alcantar, now of Warrenville, faces up to 30 years in prison for predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse when he is sentenced June 27.
In a two-day bench trial before Kane County Judge David Akemann, Kane County prosecutors argued that Alcantar assaulted the girl several times while he stayed with the girl’s family in a home in the 400 block of Locust Street.
The girl, who will turn 17 in mid-May, testified she was watching a TV crime show in May 2010, realized what happened to her and told her mom. The girl, who now lives in West Chicago, and her mom saw Alcantar at a West Chicago festival in September 2010 and authorities began investigating.
The girl identified Alcantar from the witness stand. She testified he told her not to tell anyone or her parents would go to jail. She said Alcantar used a towel to cover her mouth during one of the assaults because she was crying out in pain.
Part of Alcantar’s explanation to investigators was the girl approached him several times and grabbed his private area while he was sleeping.
“That is not believable. That is not credible. That is not reasonable,” argued Assistant State’s Attorney Thomas St. Jules. “This is a crime that (the victim) remembered vividly because this is something a person does not forget. This is something a 5-year-old does not forget.”
Assistant Public Defender Rachell Conant argued that the girl waited 10 years to come forward and when she did, had differing accounts to investigators as to where the assaults took place. Conant said the girl could have been assaulted by other men staying at the home during that time and that as she grew older, she could have added details.
“I’m not saying that something didn’t happen to her. I’m saying Adrian Ramirez-Alcantar did not do these things to her when she was 5 years old,” Conant said. “How do we know that her memory has not added these details based upon what she has learned (in the last 10 years)?”
Assistant State’s Attorney Debra Bree argued that Alcantar threatened the girl afterward and she was scared. Bree also noted that the girl was shaking and crying instantly after she saw Alcantar again at the festival.
“We’re not talking about the memories of a 5-year-old girl. We’re talking about a nightmare,” Bree sad. “What motivation does she have to lie?”
Alcantar, whose $3 million bail was revoked upon conviction, slowly shook his head back and forth when a translator told him Akemann’s verdict.
After Alcantar was taken away, his wife looked toward the victim and investigators in the courtroom and said in Spanish: “God forgive all of you.”