Marengo man sentenced to probation, periodic jail time for sexual assault of child

A 56-year-old Marengo man was sentenced to three years of probation and 45 days of periodic jail time for the aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13, according to McHenry County court documents.

Dominick Zarleng also will be required to register as a sex offender.

Zarleng entered into a blind guilty plea to an amended indictment in February and more serious charges, including predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13, a Class X felony carrying up to 30 years in prison, were dismissed, according to court documents.

Zarlenga was also sentenced to 135 days of jail time, which the judge stayed at this time. Should he violate any terms of his sentence, he would be remanded to the county jail. He also is required to serve 300 hours of public service, undergo sex offender evaluation and pay $4,628.25. The periodic jail time will be served over 15 consecutive weekends.

In July 2019, Marengo police received a report that a child had allegedly been sexually assaulted by Zarlenga. The assault allegedly occurred in 2015, according to court documents. After a monthslong investigation, Zarlenga was arrested in January 2020, Marengo police at the time of his arrest.

For the Class 2 felony he pleaded to, he faced from 3 to 7 years in prison or 7 to 14 years in prison if found to be eligible for extended sentencing.