A former lay pastor at a Big Rock church was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison on charges he sexually assaulted and abused a 9-year-old member of the church.
Kane County Judge John Barsanti sentenced Mark Rivera to six years apiece on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and three years on a charge of criminal sexual abuse.
Barsanti convicted him in December.
Rivera will have to serve at least 11.7 years before being eligible for parole but will receive credit for the approximately three years he has spent in jail or on electronic home monitoring while he awaited trial and sentencing.
On multiple times between June 2018 and May 2019, Rivera assaulted the child he knew. At the time, Rivera was a lay pastor at the Christ Our Light Anglican Church in Big Rock. The child and their family attended the church.
The incidents happened at Rivera’s home in Big Rock.
The victim’s family and Rivera had previously attended a church in Wheaton.
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