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Bolingbrook man sentenced to 10 years for sexually assaulting child

A 65-year-old Bolingbrook man, Fred Mack Jr., was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child in the early 2000s.

A jury found Mack guilty in August of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child. Authorities said Mack assaulted the preteen girl multiple times over several years.

The victim, now in her 20s, reported the assault to Bolingbrook police in 2016 while she was working in a dance production that dealt with sexual abuse. The statute of limitations to file child sexual assault charges is 20 years after the victim reaches age 18.

"This woman showed remarkable courage coming forward years after she was assaulted by this predator," Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow said in a news release.

Mack was a family friend and pastor who assaulted the girl between September 2002 and July 2004, according to testimony presented at trial and sentencing. The victim testified Mack molested her as many as 100 times when she was left alone with him, including on some occasions predating the offense listed in the criminal charge.

Mack disputed that number, telling investigators he molested the girl fewer than 25 times, authorities said.

Glasgow said he hopes the case encourages other adult victims to come forward to report sexual assaults that occurred when they were children.

"These are often difficult cases to prove," he said in a written statement. "But the General Assembly has given us latitude with the statute of limitations so that predators who counted on the vulnerability and silence of their underage victims can still be held accountable."

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