Glen Ellyn man pleads guilty, gets 33 years in prison for sexual assault
A Glen Ellyn man was sentenced Friday to 33 years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman outside a Glendale Heights restaurant in 2019.
Kenneth Hatlen, 55, of the 2N0-100 block of Virginia Avenue, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault for his attack on the 65-year-old woman.
At about 4:25 a.m. May 10, 2019, the victim arrived to begin work at the restaurant along North Avenue. But before she could open the door Hatlen, a former worker at the restaurant, grabbed her and dragged her to a grassy area near her car, according to a news release from the DuPage County state's attorney's office.
Hatlen was arrested the next day in Darien. He has been held on $750,000 bail since his arrest.
He also pleaded guilty to aggravated battery for spitting on a sheriff's deputy while he was in custody. He was sentenced to three years in prison on that charge, to be served after he finishes serving his sentence for the sexual assault.
Hatlen has to serve at least 85% of his sentence for the sexual assault and 50% of the battery sentence. He will receive credit for the time he has spent in the DuPage County jail.
Judge John Kinsella also recommended that Hatlen receive mental-health counseling while in prison.
"The crime committed against the victim is simply appalling. The fact that Mr. Hatlen pleaded guilty to his crimes does nothing to erase the memory of what he did or the pain and suffering he caused his victim," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release.