An Aurora man who left a Yorkville courthouse Wednesday after he was convicted of sex assault has been apprehended in downstate Williamson County and awaits extradition, according to the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.
Now Jesus Avilas, 39, of the 700 block of North Highland Avenue, Aurora, faces a minimum of eight and as many as 30 years in prison, along with sex offender registration for the rest of his life.
Authorities said Avilas sexually assaulted a young woman he’d recently met in March 2014.
He pretended that he cared about the woman, promising to lend her money for her family, according to the sheriff’s office. Then he took her to a motel, where he sexually assaulted her for several hours, according to the sheriff’s office.
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Free on bond, Avilas showed up for his Wednesday court date, when Kendall County Judge Timothy McCann was to conclude a four-day bench trial with a verdict on the criminal sexual assault charges filed through the Kendall County State’s Attorney in November 2014.
Avilas got the written verdict, which stated he was guilty of both counts of criminal sexual assault involving the use of force, and proceeded to leave the courthouse, according to sheriff’s officials.
By the time the case was recalled for scheduling a sentencing date, Avilas was already gone, according to a news release from the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.
At the request of the Kendall County State’s Attorney’s Office, the judge issued a no-bond warrant for Avilas’ arrest, officials said.
Agencies including the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, Aurora Police Department and a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force started looking into where Avilas could be. On Thursday, authorities said, they got information that he was in the Williamson County area. Williamson County Sheriff’s officers “were able to successfully apprehend” Avilas, authorities said, without elaborating.
Twitter: @hannahmleone