McHenry man accused of forcibly sexually assaulting child is ordered held pretrial

A 27-year-old McHenry man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old was alleged to be a threat and flight risk and was ordered held in the county jail pretrial.

Alexis Javier Mendez, of the 3900 block of West Orleans, is charged with criminal sexual assault with force, a Class 1 felony, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a person between ages 13 and 16, according to a criminal complaint on file in the McHenry County court.

Conviction on a Class 1 felony carries a prison term of up to 15 years.

Mendez, who was arrested Wednesday, is accused of assaulting the child about midnight March 17, Assistant State’s Attorney Julio Cantre said during a detention hearing.

After a St. Patrick’s Day party held at the home of the child’s relative, Mendez allegedly went to an upstairs bedroom where the child had gone to sleep, in spite of the relative telling Mendez to come back downstairs and that the child was underage.

Cantre said in court Wednesday that the child told authorities they woke up to find Mendez touching them. The child tried to push him off, and Mendez held down the child with his weight and held their arms down.

The child said “it was scary” and they could not move during the attack, Cantre said, citing the child.

The child also said “he was forcing me” and that “it hurt a lot” and caused the child to bleed, Cantre said.

The prosecutor said that after the alleged assault, Mendez, who had inquired earlier as to the child’s age, said, “My apologies. It won’t happen again. Hope you’re OK. Take care.”

Cantre said Mendez admitted to police that he went to the room where the child was sleeping and also said he was very drunk and did not remember much.

He said he did remember saying he was sorry to the child but was referring to being drunk and annoying the child, Cantre said in court.

Authorities became aware of the allegation after the child told a friend, who told an employee at the school they attend.

Cantre called the allegations “truly heinous” in asking Judge Mark Gerhardt to detain Mendez pretrial. Cantre also noted previous allegations for traffic violations and driving under the influence in which Mendez failed to go to court.

“He disappeared for two years,” Cantre said.

“He is a threat to [the child] and other [children] he may encounter,” Cantre said. “We can’t rely on the adults in [their] life. We can’t rely on these folks to protect this child.”

At the hearing, Mendez was appointed an assistant public defender who argued that Mendez said he did not assault the child and is not a flight risk.

Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger said Mendez “denied any allegations of” a sexual assault but does not deny being under the influence of alcohol. He also said Mendez lives with his sister in McHenry and would return to court if allowed pretrial release.

Mendez also could be released with a no-contact order, GPS and court monitoring to protect the alleged victim, Giesinger said.

Giesinger said the prosecutor is “making light” of Mendez’s apology and asserted he was not apologizing for any sexual conduct but for being drunk.

He said there is no allegation that Mendez threatened to assault any other child and saying that he is a threat to others is “merely speculative.” He also noted that Mendez scored low on a dangerousness evaluation.

Gerhardt agreed with the prosecutor and found Mendez to be a threat and a flight risk. He noted the nature of the alleged offense and the age difference.

The judge referred to Mendez’s history of not showing up to court on lesser offenses and said, “What greater motivation is there to flea other than a Class 1 felony with no probation?”

Mendez is due back in court Tuesday.