Man admits to rape, faces 35-year sentence

A 25-year-old Crystal Lake man faces 35 years in prison since pleading guilty Wednesday to the beating and rape of a 61-year-old woman in her home last year.

Javier Molina, 245 W. Terra Cotta, admitted to three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault as part of a plea deal entered as his victim looked on from the first row in a McHenry County courtroom.

Under the deal, county prosecutors dismissed 13 other felony charges stemming from the attack last year in Crystal Lake and agreed to cap his sentence at 35 years prison. Normally, he would have been eligible for up to 60 years behind bars.

Nichole Owens, criminal division chief for the McHenry County state's attorney, said her office would seek the 35-year maximum at Molina's Dec. 7 sentencing hearing.

"The agreement was discussed with the victim, and she consented to it," she said.

Owens said the victim was home alone during the early morning hours of June 11, 2006, when Molina entered the residence through an open door, punched and elbowed the woman numerous times and then raped her.

The woman suffered a broken jaw, torn thumb ligament and several bruises in the assault, Owens said.

Police later found Molina passed out drunk in a car parked next door to the woman's home. He confessed to the attack when questioned by investigators, Owens said.

For a moment Wednesday it seemed the deal might not go through as Molina hesitated with a long pause when asked repeatedly by Judge Sharon Prather whether he was guilty as charged.

"That is what happened," he said finally.

"He for the most part agreed with the statement of facts," Molina's attorney, Senior Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof, said later. "And he didn't want to put the victim through the trauma of testifying at trial."