Joliet man sentenced to 118 years in prison for sexually assaulting teenage girl

A Joliet man was sentenced to 118 years in prison Monday for sexually assaulting a teenage girl at their shared southwest suburban home in 2015.

Chandel Dirkans, 37, was found guilty in August on 17 total counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated domestic battery, the Will County state’s attorney’s office said.

Will County state’s attorney’s office

“This young woman lived through a horrendous nightmare in her own home when Dirkans brutally and repeatedly sexually assaulted her,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said. “The sentence handed down today drives a stake straight through the heart of the beast. This savage predator will never have the opportunity to brutalize another young woman.”

Dirkans assaulted his sister’s stepdaughter, who was 16 at the time, five times over a three-hour period on Nov. 5, 2015, while the rest of their family was at work, prosecutors said.

The girl testified that Dirkans dragged her upstairs and placed her in a chokehold until she lost consciousness, prosecutors said. When she woke up, he threatened her with a knife and assaulted her, saying “You’re either going to f—- me or I’m going to kill you.”

After assaulting her upstairs, Dirkans took the girl down to the kitchen and then further down into the basement, assaulting her multiple times in both locations, prosecutors said. He then forced the girl into his vehicle and drove around, threatening to kill her again before eventually letting her out in their driveway.

The incident ended after Dirkans turned himself into police following an hours-long standoff in which he barricaded himself inside the home, prosecutors said.

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