Kane County ex-pastor gets 15 years in prison for sexually abusing 9-year-old who attended his church in Big Rock

Mark Rivera will have to serve to at least 11.7 years in prison for assaulting the child at his home.

SHARE Kane County ex-pastor gets 15 years in prison for sexually abusing 9-year-old who attended his church in Big Rock
Mark Rivera.

Mark Rivera.

Provided

A former lay pastor at a Big Rock church was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting and abusing a 9-year-old member of the church.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti, who convicted Mark Rivera in December, sentenced him to six years apiece on two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and three years on a charge of criminal sexual abuse.

Rivera will have to serve at least 11.7 years before being eligible for parole but will receive credit for the approximately three years he has spent in jail or on electronic home monitoring while he awaited trial and sentencing.

Multiple times between June 2018 and May 2019, Rivera assaulted the child, whose family attended the Christ Our Light Anglican Church in Big Rock, where Rivera was then a lay pastor. The attacks happened at Rivera’s home in Big Rock.

The victim’s family and Rivera had previously attended a church in Wheaton.

For more on this story, go to dailyherald.com.

The Latest
Suspect Romeo Nance’s son witnessed the shooting of at least five relatives, according to Joliet police reports obtained through a public records request. The reports also indicate the child’s mother was more deeply involved in the case than first thought.
Counsell is measured and stoic, more so than Joe Maddon or David Ross. After Justin Steele’s Opening Day injury, Counsell will put his head down, pace and figure it out.
Steele held the Rangers to one run through 4 2/3 innings, but the Cubs lost in 10 innings.
The Cubs opened the season against the reigning World Series champions in Texas.