Mundelein man gets 20 years for molesting 12-year-old

A Mundelein man who told police he had fallen in love with a 12-year-old girl was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday for having sex with her.

Lake County Associate Judge Daniel Shanes told Omar Blas-Pineda he had committed a "heinous violation of trust" by raping the girl while visiting the family.

Blas-Pineda, 23, told police he entered this country illegally for the second time in June 2008 and went to the victim's mother.

He said he had fallen in love with the girl and began a form of courtship of her, which led to their first sexual experience in December of that year.

Blas-Pineda, who lived in the first block of Idlewild Avenue, returned to the girl's home and had sex with her again in April 2009.

He was caught when the girl's mother found a letter from Blas-Pineda in her daughter's room and called police.

Blas-Pineda confessed, and pleaded guilty to predatory sexual assault of a child on Jan. 7, 2010.

Assistant State's Attorney James Newman asked for a sentence of at least 25 years for Blas-Pineda. He was eligible for a maximum of 30 years in prison.

"There is no indication of any mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse here," Newman said. "This is apparently someone so socially naive he could not see how wrong this was."

Assistant Public Defender Katherine Hatch asked for a sentence near the minimum of six years, saying her client did not use force against the girl and cooperated with police after his arrest.

Shanes said he found it aggravating that Blas-Pineda has a wife in Mexico who apparently began bearing him children when she was 14 years old.

"I cannot convince myself that this is a crime unlikely to reoccur," Shanes said. "It appears to me that he simply likes girls that age."

Blas-Pineda declined to make a statement during the hearing.