A Lake Bluff man faces up to nearly 70 years in prison after a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 in Lake Forest.
Shawheen Sariri, 26, of Lake Bluff, was charged in March 2019 with predatory criminal sexual assault, criminal assault of a family member and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
A jury convicted Sariri on January 20 of one count of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony, and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony.
The Lake Forest Police Department began investigating Sariri after receiving a report from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services about a sexual assault involving a child.
The Lake Forest Police Department and the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center investigated the DCFS call and police arrested Sariri shortly after.
Court records show Sariri sexually assaulted a child family member who was under the age of 13 in 2018.
A Lake County judge set his bond at $250,000 in March 2019 and Sariri was released from jail after posting 10%.
Sariri, while out on bond, was charged in new incidents involving two unrelated additional victims, prosecutors said.
One of the incidents involved another sexual assault.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Sariri sexually assaulted a woman inside an industrial building in the 28900 block of North Herky Drive in unincorporated Lake Bluff in September 2021.
The second additional case involved an aggravated domestic battery where Sariri allegedly strangled someone in Lake County in early 2020.
Sariri’s cash bond was revoked and he was held without bond following the two new offenses.
“Sariri’s history of offending after posting so much cash further demonstrates how wealth-based detention systems do not make us safer,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said.
Following Sariri’s conviction in the predatory sexual assault case, he faces up to 67 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. A court hearing is scheduled for March 2.
His two other cases are still pending, court records show.