West Chicago man found guilty of 2001 sexual assault after DNA match

A West Chicago man was found guilty Wednesday of sexually assaulting a woman 25 years ago, authorities said.

Alberto Gomez, 54, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, four counts of criminal sexual assault, and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, all felonies.

He was convicted in a bench trial by DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin.

Gomez was arrested in 2023.

According to DuPage County prosecutors, his DNA was collected and submitted to a national DNA database in 2022, after he was detained on a charge of illegally reentering the United States.

West Chicago police then learned that it was consistent with DNA collected in a November 2001 sexual assault case.

Authorities said around 4:22 a.m. Nov. 25, 2001, a woman was alone when she realized that a man was in her apartment. The man hit her in the face, head and stomach, pushed her onto a bed, and sexually assaulted her, authorities said.

“The identification, prosecution and guilty verdict of a man suspected in a violent sexual assault that occurred nearly 25 years ago sends a strong message that in DuPage County you cannot outlast the law,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. “We will never give up on a case or a victim, no matter how much time has passed.”

ssarkauskas@dailyherald.com