Oswego Child Sex Assault Convict Will Likely Spend Life In Prison: SA

OSWEGO, IL — After being convicted on four charges of child sexual abuse, an Oswego man was sentenced to 21 years in prison, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said Tuesday.

Allen Taft, now 83 years old, was found guilty by a jury in August 2024 of three separate counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The investigation began in April 2022 when the now-adult victim, a family member of Taft's, reported to law enforcement that Taft committed multiple acts of sexual penetration on her while inside Taft's home.

The sexual abuse started when the girl was 6 years old and happened between 2008 and 2015, Patch reported. Oswego police concluded a 10-month investigation into the crime in February 2023.

According to jail records, Taft was released from the Kendall County jail on Feb. 28, 2023, after posting 10 percent of his $25,000 bond.

RELATED: Oswego Man, 83, Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Child Under 13: Weis

Weis helped prosecute Taft along with Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Cusack. Taft was represented by Attorney Eric Blatti.

"Based upon Taft's age at the time of sentencing and the requirement under Illinois law that most of his sentence will be served under truth in sentencing, Taft will be over 100 years old before being eligible for mandatory supervised release," Weis said in a statement. "While he would have to register as a child sex offender for life, the reality is that this sentence is a de facto life in prison sentence. And based upon the horrific acts committed by Taft, that is exactly what he deserves."

A detective with the Oswego Police Department interviewed Taft, who confirmed some of the acts he committed.

"My hope is that the de facto life sentence will bring some comfort to the victim, that he will never be able to harm another child," Weis wrote.