Priest Gets 4 Years for Sexual Assault
Alejandro Flores leaped from church balcony in apparent suicide attempt in January
Kane County Sheriff's
Rev. Alejandro Flores
A Bolivian priest who leaped from a church balcony in an apparent suicide attempt was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a boy from the West Chicago parish where he was a deacon.
Alejandro Flores, 36, pleaded guilty in Kane County court to one count of criminal sexual assault for assaulting the boy, whose family lives in St. Charles. The priest had befriended the boy's family while assigned to St. Mary's Catholic Church in West Chicago.
Flores was ordained in 2009. In January, when the boy's mother alerted the Joliet archdiocese to the alleged abuse, Flores was removed from the parish. Two days later, he leaped from the balcony of a Joliet church in a suicide attempt, according to church officials.
He was hospitalized, though not critically injured, and was taken into custody after his discharge.
In April, Flores was indicted on charges he attempted to sexually abuse the aforementioned boy's older brother during the same period. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Wednesday's deal with prosecutors drops 15 of the 16 criminal sexual abuse counts against him.
Flores must serve 85 percent of the sentence and will likely be deported to his native country on his release from prison.
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