DeKalb man sentenced to 6 years in prison for child sexual assault

SYCAMORE – A 23-year-old DeKalb man ultimately will spend half of his 20s in prison for sexually assaulting a child he knew, according to a news release from the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Skyler C. Young, formerly of the 800 block of West Hillcrest Drive, agreed to a sentence of six years Wednesday in exchange for a guilty plea to the Class X felony charge of predatory criminal sexual assault. He must serve at least 85 percent of that sentence and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Chief Judge Robbin Stuckert accepted Young’s plea.

Young has been in prison on $100,000 bond since July 2017, when he was charged shortly after committing the offense, so he has been credited with 464 days served.

Assistant State’s Attorney Suzanne Collins said the offense was committed between May and July 2017, and that Young knew the victim, who was younger than 13.

“When a child is violated by someone they believed they could trust, our office is bound to do everything in its lawful power to seek justice for that child,” State’s Attorney Rick Amato said in the release. “I am grateful for the work of the DeKalb Police Department, the DeKalb County Children’s Advocacy Center and ASA Collins for their work on behalf of this child victim.”

Young also had been convicted in February 2017 of sexual exploitation of a child after police said he touched a 13-year-old’s breasts in August 2015. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation, court records show.