A Chicago man found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Mundelein toddler might be sentenced on Jan. 19.
On Friday, Judge Mark Levitt set that date to hear defense motions, including a request for reconsideration of the guilty verdict Levitt handed down to Jose Reyes in early November. If that motion is denied, officials said a sentencing hearing would proceed the same day.
Following a bench trial before Levitt, Reyes, 31, was found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 3-year-old Mundelein girl, and he now faces a sentencing range of 24 to 120 years in prison.
When he announced the guilty verdict Nov. 3, Levitt said evidence and testimony during the trial of Reyes left no doubt in his mind that Reyes was guilty of the charges against him.
The prosecution’s case against Reyes included video of the assault that police and prosecutors said Reyes took with his cellphone, which Levitt said made clear that the “minor child was kidnapped, recorded and sexually assaulted.”
Levitt also called the physical evidence against Reyes, such as DNA matches, “abundant,” and the forensics in the case “pristine.”
Reyes was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, predatory criminal sexual assault and possession and production of child pornography following the trial, which ran intermittently between Oct. 17 and Oct. 28. Reyes opted for a bench trial before Levitt over a jury trial.
Following the verdict, assistant state’s attorneys Eric Kalata and Fred Day both said they were pleased with the judge’s ruling and the assistance they received in the case.
Defense Attorney Eric Rinehart has said he planned to appeal aspects of the case, including the seizure and search of his client’s cellphone. First, however, the defense will make its case for a reconsideration of the verdict at the Jan. 19 hearing.
Police and prosecutors said Reyes abducted the child from in front of her Mundelein apartment on Sept. 30, 2013, took her in his car to another location and sexually assaulted her, and returned her to the parking lot of the complex less than an hour later.
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