Ex-gymnastics coach sentenced to 96 years for sexual assault of teen in Channahon

A judge handed down a 96-year prison sentence for a former gymnastics coach from Mexico who was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage gymnast in Channahon almost a decade ago.

The sentence for Jose Vilchis, 72, of Joliet was issued Tuesday by Will County Judge Dan Rippy. Vilchis faced between 32 to 120 years in prison.

Last year, a jury found Vilchis guilty of the sexual assault, which occurred in Channahon in 2013 and 2014 when Vilchis was a coach at I&M Gymnastics in Channahon.

The jury also heard evidence that Vilchis had engaged in sexual crimes against three other teenage girls going back as far as 1997, according to Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s Office.

During a sentencing hearing, a police officer testified regarding two additional victims, according to Glasgow’s office. Another of Vilchis’ victims testified that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Vilchis in the 1990s while he was her gymnastics coach.

“Jose Vilchis is a reprehensible sexual predator who calculatingly used his position of trust and authority to take advantage of innocent girls. He repeatedly preyed upon young gymnasts in private under the guise of being a caring coach,” Glasgow said in a statement.

Glasgow commended the “young women for their courage in coming forward and telling their stories.”

“Although nothing can undo the damage he caused, he will spend the rest of his days in a prison cell unable to prey on anyone else,” Glasgow said.

Vilchis was first arrested and taken to Will County jail in the Channahon case Oct. 15, 2018.

Vilchis was working at Walmart, 2424 W. Jefferson St., Joliet, before his arrest, according to court filings from his attorney, Michael Fleming.

Federal prosecutors alleged Vilchis sexually assaulted two female minors he coached at American Academy of Gymnastics in Wheeling and Illinois Gymnastics Experience in South Holland between 1988 and 1997, according to a May 5, 2021, memorandum filed in federal court by U.S. Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

Vilchis failed to respond to prosecutors’ allegations and submitted no evidence of his own, Coleman said.

The prosecutors’ allegations about Vilchis past sex crimes against minors led Coleman to declare Vilchis – a Mexican national – had procured his U.S. citizenship illegally.

Vilchis applied for permanent residency in 1991, applied for naturalization in 1996 and became a U.S. citizen in 1997.

“By committing these unlawful acts which adversely reflected on his moral character, Vilchis was statutorily ineligible for naturalization. Therefore, the court must revoke Vilchis’ citizenship because it was illegally procured,” Coleman said.

Vilchis competed for Mexico in men’s gymnastics at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City before he relocated to Illinois, according to Coleman’s memorandum. Vilchis would’ve been 19 at the Summer Olympics that year.