From the State’s Attorney:
JUDGE SENTENCES BELVIDERE MAN TO THIRTY-SIX YEARS IN PRISON AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY BY A JURY OF PREDATORY CRIMINAL SEXUAL ASSAULT OF CHILD
McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi L. Freese announces that on February 6, 2026, Jesus Zepeda, 59, of Belvidere, Illinois, was sentenced to an aggregate of thirty-six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on two counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Judge Tiffany Davis.
In December of 2025, Zepeda was found guilty of two counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault following a four-day jury trial. Evidence at trial proved that on multiple occasions,
Zepeda took a young child to various parks around the area where he showed her pornography and sexually assaulted her while in the backseat of his car.
Zepeda was sentenced to twenty years on the first count and sixteen years on the second count.
These sentences shall run consecutive to each other and Truth-in-Sentencing requires that the terms be served at 85%.
Upon release, he will be placed on Mandatory Supervised Release for a range of three years to natural life.
He must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. It is estimated that Zepeda will be 88 years of age at the time of his release.
State’s Attorney Freese commends the courage of the victim in this case for reporting this abuse and for facing her abuser and testifying at trial.
“It is our honor to seek justice on behalf of such a brave child. While no sentence can undo the harm done, we are relieved that this predator will be incarcerated until long after this child is a grown adult.” Freese stated.
State’s Attorney Freese thanks the Child Advocacy Center for their ongoing commitment in ensuring that the voices of child victims be heard.
State’s Attorney Freese is also grateful for the hard work of the Woodstock Police Department, especially Detective Gustufson, as well as Deputy Alejo and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance during the investigation.
This case was successfully prosecuted at trial by Assistant State’s Attorneys Elizabeth Vonau and Shelby Page.
