Yorkville Man Sexually Assaulted Stepdaughter, Gets 20 Years In Prison

AURORA, IL — A Yorkville man who sexually assaulted his stepdaughter when she was 13 and younger has agreed to a plea deal for 20 years in the Illinois prison, the Kendall County State's Attorney's Office announced.

Rafael Sanchez, 53, was charged with one count of predatory sexual assault of a child in both Kendall and Kane counties and received a 10-year sentence in each. He'll be required to serve 85 percent of his total sentence before he'll be eligible for mandatory supervised release.

The sexual assaults started in the late 1990s and continued into 2007. The victim was under the age of 13 for most of it, officials said.

A joint investigation by the Aurora Police Department and the Kendall County Sheriff's Office began in 2022 when the victim reported that she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather when she was a child. The assaults occurred in Aurora and unincorporated Kendall County, officials said.

Charges were filed in both Kendall and Kane counties in 2023. Sanchez, of the 700 block of North Bridge Street, has remained in custody since.