Girls Gymnastics Coach Learns Prison Term For Channahon Sex Crimes

CHANNAHON, IL — After spending four-and-a-half years incarcerated at Will County's jail, former Channahon girls’ gymnastics coach Jose Vilchis, now 72, was sentenced to 96 years of prison on eight counts of criminal sexual assault against a teenage girl who was a gymnast.

“Jose Vilchis is a reprehensible sexual predator who calculatingly used his position of trust and authority to take advantage of innocent girls,” Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow declared in Tuesday's press release. “He repeatedly preyed upon young gymnasts in private under the guise of being a caring coach. I commend these 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."

Vilchis will receive credit for 1,591 days served, the prosecutor added.

Last June, a Will County jury reached its verdict in less than two hours following a four-day trial before Judge Daniel Rippy. The abuse happened in Channahon in 2013 and 2014 when Vilchis was a coach at I&M Gymnastics. The jury also heard evidence that Vilchis engaged in sexual crimes against three other teenage girls going back as far as 1997.

Each count of criminal sexual assault carried a sentence of 4 to 15 years, meaning that Vilchis will serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years and is eligible for a maximum sentence of 120 years.

In 2018, Joliet Patch first wrote about the sexual assault allegations against the former I&M Gymnastics coach. That April, WTTW published a lengthy expose headlined, "Gymnastics Coach Accused of Sexual Abuse Remained At Chicago-Area Gyms for Decades."

The Chicago television report revealed that Channahon's Police Department were first contacted about Vilchis in 2014 and again in 2017. When one gymnast was 13, the I&M coach always found an excuse to touch her inappropriately, she told Chicago Tonight.

"He would squeeze my butt. He would touch my chest area," the teenager told Chicago Tonight, according to its investigative report. "He would just try many, many things. And I didn't know what to do. I was quiet. I didn't know that things were happening with other girls. We all kept it from each other because we were so scared."

Chicago Tonight also reported how Channahon's Police Department did not realize that the USA Gymnastics had investigated Vilchis for sexual abuse and banned him from their organization.

In Tuesday's press release, Glasgow thanked Assistant State’s Attorneys Mary Fillipitch and Tricia McKenna, Nichole Pasteris, Director of Victim Witness Services, Albert Bailey who provided technical support, and Channahon Police Detective Craig Gunty. Additionally, Glasgow thanked Jacquelyn Lundquist of the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center for her forensic interview of the victim.