83-year-old Oswego man sentenced to 21 years in prison for child sexual abuse

An 83-year-old Oswego man who had been found guilty of criminal sexual abuse of a child has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Allen Taft was convicted of three separate counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse following a jury trial on Aug. 12. The jury deliberated for just over an hour before returning guilty verdicts on all charges, according to a news release from the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Kendall County Circuit Judge Jody Gleason handed down the sentence. Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis thought the sentence was appropriate given the nature of the offense.

“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,” Weis said in the news release. “And based upon the horrific acts committed by Taft, that is exactly what he deserves. ... My hope is that the de facto life sentence will bring some comfort to the victim knowing that he will never be able to harm another child.”

Weiss said in the release that, due to Taft’s age and that Illinois’ truth in sentencing requires him to serve most of his sentence, Taft will be more than 100 years old before being eligible for mandatory supervised release.

Charges against Taft were filed after an investigation began in April 2022. The victim told law enforcement investigators that Taft had committed multiple acts over a period of several years, beginning when the victim was a child, according to the release.

A detective from the Oswego Police Department interviewed Taft, where he confirmed some of the acts he committed against the victim many years ago, according to the release.

The incidents allegedly occurred between July 2008 and July 2015. The charges were the result of a 10-month Oswego police investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Weis and Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Cusack.