SALINE CO., Ill.—A man convicted of sex assault of a young family member has been sentenced in Saline County Circuit Court today.
Michael J. Reyes, 35, was charged in May of 2012 with seven counts of varying sex crimes, most of them the above-mentioned, but also with Criminal Sexual Assault while being in a position of trust, supervision or authority over the victim who was between the ages of 13-17, as well as Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse while being five years or more older than the victim. He must also register as a sex offender for life.
In February, Reyes took a plea to the Criminal Sexual Assault of a Family Member under the age of 18, as opposed to going to a jury trial with it. Represented by Morgan Scroggins of Granite City, that plea was probably the best that could be hoped for on the part of the defense…as was the sentence today: 14 years in Illinois Department of Corrections.
The investigation of the Michael Reyes case was led by Sgt. William Duncan and Detective Curt Hustedde of the Carrier Mills Police Department. Former Saline County Assistant State’s Attorney Eva Walker handled the prosecution of Reyes until her departure from the State’s Attorney’s office in June, 2013. Following Ms. Walker’s departure, Assistant State’s Attorney Jayson M. Clark and Lorinda Lamken of the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Special Prosecution Unit handled the successful prosecution of the case.