Man who assaulted, robbed female college student receives 101-year prison sentence

A Kentucky man charged with the 2019 abduction, armed sexual assault and robbery of a female college student who was home on spring break was sentenced May 3 to 101 years in prison.

Justin Dalcollo, 37, with a last known address in Nicholasville, Kentucky, was charged with six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, one count of armed robbery, one count of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

On Dec. 13, after a five-day-long trial and about two hours of deliberations, a jury found Dalcollo, guilty of the charges.

On March 22, 2019, about 3:30 p.m., the victim was getting into her car in the parking lot at Bloomingdale Court Mall on Army Trail Road when Dalcollo approached her and forced his way into her car at gunpoint, according to the release.

Dalcollo ordered the woman to drive to a bank in Glendale Heights and forced her to withdraw $300 from her debit card. He then forced her to drive to numerous locations in Hanover Park and Bartlett, ultimately parking the car in a parking garage at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin where Dalcollo sexually assaulted her, according to the release.

After the sexual assault, Dalcollo ordered the victim to drive to a convenience store in Elgin and accompany him as he went inside. He then ordered the woman to call a cab for him from her cellphone and drive him to the Elgin train station, where the cab picked him up. The victim then went to a hospital where she reported the sexual assault.

An investigation led by Bloomingdale police, with assistance from other agencies, led to Dalcollo, who was taken into custody the following day in Chicago. On March 25, 2019, Dalcollo appeared in DuPage County Bond Court where Judge George Bakalis denied bail. Dalcollo has been held in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that time.

“For the victim in this case, a relaxing, enjoyable spring break spent at home with family and friends came to an abrupt end on March 22, 2019, when Justin Dalcollo kidnapped her at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “While the memories of that horrible day may fade with time, time cannot erase what happened. The victim, and the entire community, have been harmed by this defendant’s abhorrent behavior and demand justice. With this young woman’s amazing courage to confront Mr. Dalcollo eye to eye and her refusal to become a silent victim, justice has been served. He has most certainly earned every year of his 101-year sentence.”

“This survivor has walked a long road to get to this day” Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Lori Schmidt said in the release. “Her bravery throughout this nightmare has been nothing short of remarkable, and her strength has been inspirational. I am relieved for her and her family that this part is finally over and she can continue healing. I hope she feels that justice has been served. I’m sure there were times she had to wonder whether she’d ever get to hear that this violent criminal has been sent to prison for a very long time.”

“The cooperation of the various police agencies and prosecution by the Kane County and DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office helped to bring this defendant to justice” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said in the release. “The prison sentence ordered today will keep our community safe from a person who chose his actions. Hopefully, this will bring some relief to the victim who not only had to testify against him but had to be questioned by him as he represented himself.”

Dalcollo will be required to serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.