Prospect Heights man sentenced to 24 years for child sex assault

A Prospect Heights man took a plea deal Monday, resulting in a 24-year prison sentence for the predatory sexual assault of a child younger than 13 in Lake in the Hills.

Steven D. West, 38, also had been charged in March 2020 with additional counts of predatory criminal sexual assault as well as multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 18, court records show. The offenses were alleged to have occurred between 2010 and 2013.

The case had been investigated by members of the Lake in the Hills Police Department, according to a news release from the McHenry County state's attorney's office.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the one count, the McHenry County state's attorney's office dismissed the other charges against West, court records show.

McHenry County Judge Michael Coppedge sentenced West to 24 years in prison following the plea.