A former St. Charles man was sentenced to spend the next decade and a half in prison for sexually assaulting a child in his family.

Ramiro Fonseca, 43, of the 500 block of North Gay St., Pharr, TX, and formerly of the 400 block of North Union Street, St. Charles, was sentenced late Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, by Circuit Judge Susan Clancy Boles to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

On Sept. 23, 2014, Fonseca was convicted by Judge Boles of two counts of criminal sexual assault, each a Class 1 felony, and criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony.

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that between July 2009 and February 2011, Fonseca committed multiple acts of sexual penetration with the victim, who was younger than 18 at the time. Fonseca and the victim are relatives.

The crimes took place at Fonseca’s residence in St. Charles.

After Fonseca moved to Texas, the victim disclosed the crimes to a counselor, who reported the information to the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services as required by law.

In addition to the prison term, Fonseca must register for life as a sexual offender in accordance with the Illinois Sexual Offender Registration Act.

The sentence is six years for each sexual assault count and three years for the sexual abuse count. The terms are to be served consecutively. According to Illinois law, Fonseca must serve at least 85 percent of each of the six-year terms, and he is eligible for day-for-day sentencing on the three-year term. Fonseca receives credit for at least 336 days served in the Kane County jail.

The case was prosecuted by Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Lori Schmidt and Andrew Whitfield, who are assigned to the Kane County Child Advocacy Center.

The advocacy center investigated the case.

SOURCE: Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office press release