Convicted child molester gets 15 years
A Fox Valley man was sentenced 15 years in prison for blindfolding girls -- including a 13-year-old from St. Charles -- and sexually abusing them while he videotaped it.
Friday's guilty plea by Mike Salinas, 26, of 1340 Big Oak Tree in northwest Aurora, means the victims won't have to relive the crime by testifying in a trial, Assistant State's Attorney Justin Fitzsimmons said.
"It's an appropriate sentence considering the severity of the defendant's acts," Fitzsimmons said.
Salinas will be 36 when released from prison, and he must register as a sex offender. He must serve 85 percent of a 12-year sentence received for blindfolding a St. Charles girl under the ruse of filming a TV commercial in May 2005 and forcing oral sex upon her.
Salinas also got a three-year term for an August 2006 incident where he had a 9- or 10-year-old girl touch his genitals while at work at an Aurora pizza parlor. He must serve half that sentence. He received credit for a year and half in jail since his 2005 arrest.
The parents of one of the victims credited the state's attorney's office and Child Advocacy Center for their hard work.
Salinas did not have a criminal record before his 2005 arrest.