North Aurora man sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing four children

A North Aurora man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the criminal sexual assault of four children over the course of almost 20 years.

Jaime Reyes, 70, pleaded guilty to three felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one felony count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child on Nov. 19, moments before his jury trial was set to begin, according to a news release from the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office.

The plea was part of a negotiated plea agreement. The charges stemmed from incidents that occurred from the late 1990s until 2017, Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said.

Reyes would isolate the young victims and would take advantage of his position of trust until they reached the age of puberty, according to the press release.

The abuse occurred at various addresses in Kendall County as well as one address in Kane County for almost two decades, he said. After a lengthy investigation, charges were approved against Reyes and he was arrested in early 2022 and has remained in custody since that time.

A jury trial was set to begin in November when Reyes attempted to harm himself while in custody, Weis said. The case was continued to the next day and an agreed sentenced was reached where Reyes will essentially serve the rest of his life in prison as a result of his crimes, based on his age and health conditions, without the victims having to testify in court.

“There is no doubt that the world is a safer place with Reyes being in custody,” Weis said in a statement. “He preyed on those who were sometimes too young to even understand what was happening. He is a true predator. My hope is that the victims have some comfort in knowing that Reyes will remain in custody forever. I also want to commend the bravery of the victims for coming forward so that this dangerous person can never do this again to anyone.”