Bensenville man gets 10 years for sex abuse

A Bensenville man was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for molesting a 7-year-old child while she was in his care.

Francisco Amezcua, 28, pleaded guilty earlier this year to predatory criminal sexual assault. He faced six to 30 years in prison.

Amezcua admitted molesting the girl between June and December 2006 while baby-sitting her in Bensenville. She later reported the abuse to her mother, who alerted police.

The child said Amezcua threatened to harm her if she ever told anyone. Her mother wrote a letter to the judge in which she said her daughter continues to suffer nightmares and remains withdrawn.

She brought her daughter to the U.S. from Mexico at age 2 to give the child a better life, the mother said in her letter. She met Amezcua at work, and the two began a relationship.

"I will never forget when my daughter told me what he was doing to her," she wrote. "I began to shake uncontrollably with each passing word and I could not stop crying thinking about what she was going through."

She added: "I feel guilty because I gave him the trust that I should have never afforded him. My daughter lived a nightmare and I feel responsible because I was unable to protect her from this monster."

Prosecutor Demetri Demopoulos sought a 17-year prison term. DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell sentenced Amezcua, who did not have a prior documented criminal history. Authorities, though, said he was in the U.S. illegally and will likely face deportation after completing his prison term.