Woman gets life in prison for sexual assault of 2 children

Saying Yolanda Dipert needed time to think about exactly what her role was in the sexual assault of two children, Circuit Court Judge Fred Foreman upheld state law and sentenced Yolanda Dipert to mandatory life in prison in Lake County circuit court Tuesday afternoon.

Before the official sentence being handed down, Dipert asked for leniency from Foreman, stating again she was forced by her ex-brother-in-law to sexually assault two children - now aged 16 and 14 - between 2002 and 2006.

Dipert, 46, an employee of Barrington Area Unit District 220 until her arrest in 2006, said throughout her trial that Lee Dipert threatened to harm her if she didn't assault the children or if she ever came forward and told authorities about his actions.

"Lee threatened us many times that he would kill us if we didn't do what he said," she said while reading a statement in court. "I knew what was going on was wrong, but I was forced into this."

She also stated that she was coerced by police into confessing to the crime, that Foreman didn't consider her testimony before passing judgment on her and that the father of the victims encouraged them to lie in court.

"It's astounding to me that she still refuses to take responsibility for her own actions," said Assistant State's Attorney Eric Kalata. "She is not the victim here, she is the offender. She is a sexual predator."

Foreman agreed with Kalata, saying, "You were a willing and active participant in this... and now, you are going to be given considerable time to re-examine what your role was in this offense."

The Cuba Township woman faced a mandatory life sentence when found guilty of multiple counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child in April. She and Lee Dipert, 52, were arrested in July 2006 when a relative found child pornography on Lee Dipert's computer and called police. Through the investigation, Yolanda Dipert was implicated after being identified in some of the pictures. Police also discovered similar pictures on her computer.

Lee Dipert, of Valparaiso, Ind., pleaded guilty last year to predatory criminal sexual assault in exchange for a sentence of 40 years in prison.

In addition to her life sentence for the counts of predatory sexual assault, Foreman also gave Yolanda Dipert a sentence of 10 years in prison for child pornography.