A Kane County jury this month found an Elgin man guilty of sexually assaulting a child multiple times between April 2022 and June 2024, according to court records.

Juan Pop-Pana, 25, of Elgin, sexually assaulted the victim who was under age 18, multiple times from April 3, 2022, to June 3, 2024, Assistant State’s Attorneys Morgan Wilkinson and Jacki Kliment said in court.

He was convicted at trial Sept. 9 of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child and intimidation by threatening the child with physical harm, all felonies, according to a news release and court records.

Pop-Pana faces a minimum sentence of seven years in prison, according to the release.

“The defendant in this case took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability of being in a new country, not speaking the language, and knowing no one else here other than the defendant,” Wilkinson said in a news release.

Pop-Pana also threatened to harm the victim’s mother and told the victim she would be kicked out of the house if she told anyone, the prosecutors said in court.

Wilkinson credited the Child Advocacy Center’s Multidisciplinary Team of Investigator Dave Smith, Department of Children and Family Services Investigator Aaron Villasenor, advocate Flor Rodriguez and forensic interviewer Kasandra Osorio with achieving the guilty verdict.

“The defendant’s repeated conduct will forever change the victim’s life, but her bravery in facing her abuser in court got her the justice she deserves,” Wilkinson said.

Anyone with more information about Pop-Pana, is asked to call Investigator Dave Smith at the Kane County Child Advocacy Center, 630-208-5160.

The most serious charge Pop-Pana was convicted of is criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years in prison.

Aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child is a Class 2 felony, punishable by four to seven years in prison and intimidation is a Class 3 felony, punishable by two to five years in prison.

On Class 1 and Class 2 felony offenses, the judge is also authorized to sentence the defendant to a term of up to 48 months of probation.

Pop-Pana, who has been held in the Kane County jail since his arrest June 7, 2024, is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 30 for motions and sentencing, according to the release and detainee records.