McHenry man pleads guilty to sexual assault of teen, gets 7-year prison term

A McHenry man pleaded guilty Monday to the sexual assault of a 16-year-old.

Eliezer Murrieta-Gonzalez, 25, was sentenced to seven years in prison, according to a judgment order in McHenry County court signed by Judge Tiffany Davis.

He entered his guilty plea exactly one year from the day of the offense. He is required to serve 85% of the prison time followed by three years to natural life of mandatory supervised release, and he will receive credit for a year in county jail, the order said. He must now register as a sex offender for life, an order said.

Murrieta-Gonzalez has been in jail since his arrest July 15, 2024, the day after the sexual assault to which he pleaded guilty.

Murrieta-Gonzalez was detained following his arrest after Judge Carl Metz determined the defendant was a danger to the victim and had “a high risk of avoiding prosecution.”

Metz, referring to what was presented at the r Murrieta-Gonzalez’s initial hearing, wrote that “following the offense, the defendant packed his items to leave, the defendant never obtained a driver’s license, is not an American citizen, told others he was leaving, and tried to reach multiple family members in Mexico. There are no conditions that can mitigate the defendant’s risk as he has no place to stay or ties to the community.”

In exchange for his guilty plea to criminal sexual assault, six counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 18 were dismissed, records show.