Aurora Man, 36, Guilty Of Child Sex Assault: State's Attorney

AURORA, IL — A 36-year-old Aurora man is looking at a prison sentence of at least 21 years for sexually assaulting a young girl, officials said.

Benigno Cruz, of the 1200 block of Grove St. in Aurora, was found guilty of three felony charges: three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, one count of criminal sexual assault, and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, according to the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

Cruz assaulted the young girl, who he knew, between the fall of 2014 and fall of 2018, according to evidence presented by Assistant State's Attorneys Tyler Cox and Lori Schmidt.

The Aurora man is scheduled to return to the Kane County Judicial Center at 1:30 p.m. June 24 for motions and sentencing. Until then, he remains in custody at the Kane County jail, where he has been held in lieu of a $500,000 bail since his arrest.

Judge Alice Tracy revoked Cruz's bond upon conviction.

"The victim in this case survived a childhood of sexual abuse inflicted upon her by the defendant," Cox said in a statement. "She made the courageous decision to disclose the abuse to an adult, and because of her strength, this defendant will be held accountable for his own decisions. The multidisciplinary team at the Kane County Child Advocacy has done an excellent job from the outset of this investigation, and I thank ASA Lori Schmidt for her vital contributions during the trial, and CAC investigator Beth Mullarkey for her great work on this case."