McHenry man gets four years for juvenile pimping

When Josue Gomez was 13 years old, he suffered repeated sexual abuse at the hands of a family friend.

Five years later, Gomez was convicted of pimping out a 13-year-old girl to several adult men.

McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather noted the coincidence Friday as she sentenced Gomez to four years in prison.

In January, a jury found Gomez guilty of juvenile pimping, a charge that could have netted him 15 years in prison. Instead, Gomez got the minimum sentence short of the probation his defense attorneys sought.

"Probation or conditional discharge would deprecate the seriousness of the defendant's conduct," Prather said before handing down the sentence. "The defendant is not an individual likely to comply with the terms of probation."

Gomez did not have anything to say to the judge before he was sentenced. His sisters wept as the sentence was read.

Authorities say Gomez arranged for his younger sister's 13-year-old friend to have sex with adult men on four occasions in September at McHenry homes and a Johnsburg motel.

The girl, now 14, testified at trial she had sex during one of the meetings. In the others, the girl said, she would cry and tell the men her age to avoid having sex with them.

"The defendant organized the sale of a 13-year-old for sex," Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Blackney said. "She cries every day. She feels ashamed, gets called names and lost a lot of friends."

Blackney said Gomez is not a legal resident and has had a prior probation sentence revoked for other offenses, including gang activity, committed as a juvenile.

But in arguing for probation, Gomez's defense team said their client was himself the victim of severe sexual abuse, and noted that a sex offender evaluation found him a low risk for committing sex crimes.

"He didn't choose to become a victim at the age of 13," Woodstock attorney Francisco Botto said. "He needs help. It is not in prison (that) he is going to find the help that he needs."

Because Gomez likely will receive day-for-day credit and already has been behind bars for eight months, he will be eligible for parole in about 16 months.