Sugar Grove man convicted of abusing foster child now sued
A Sugar Grove man recently convicted of sexually assaulting a foster child for more than a decade has been sued by his victim.
Noel Buhay, 49, faces a minimum 18-year prison term when sentenced June 2 by Kane County Judge D.J. Tegeler.
Buhay must serve 85 percent of any sentence, which is still 15 years if he gets the minimum, and could get up to 90 years.
In a March trial, a jury deliberated about 4½ hours before convicting Buhay of three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child from January 2004 to May 2014.
Attorney George Acosta filed the lawsuit on behalf of the man, who is listed as John Doe, arguing Buhay was negligent and engaged in wanton conduct to harm Doe. Acosta said the lawsuit is not about making Buhay suffer financially. Rather, it's to ensure Doe gets access to the help he needs going forward.
"His life has been affected in multiple ways. There's a lot of things he is going to be dealing with the rest of his life. Therapy and therapies cost money," Acosta said. "That's our main motivation, to allow him to have the resources he needs in the future."
Acosta said the guilty verdict in Buhay's trial provided a measure of relief for his client, who Acosta said first reported abuse in 2005. Numerous continuances of the criminal trial also caused stress for Doe, Acosta said.
"It's been a very trying period for him. A lot of upheaval in his life," Acosta said. "It's satisfying to him that what he said in 2005 as an 11-year-old was believed by a jury in 2017."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Buhay has been charged in a second case of sexually assaulting and abusing a child younger than 13 that he knew from December 2005 through December 2008. A trial date for that has not been set. Buhay's bond was revoked after his March conviction and he is being held at the Kane County jail.