A Lisle teen was sentenced to 35 years in prison Friday for the rape of a woman along the Herrick Lake bike path near Wheaton last August.
Under state sentencing requirements, Eugene Mack, 16, will serve nearly 30 years of the sentence imposed by DuPage County Judge Robert Anderson. Mack has been in the DuPage County Youth Home since his arrest Aug. 3, one day after the attack. He pleaded guilty in May.
“I feel sadness for his family and friends,” Anderson said but added: “I fear for society. Society needs to be protected from Mr. Mack.”
Defense attorneys Vincent Cornelius and Rick Kayne had asked for a sentence of 18 years, the minimum, while prosecutor Jay Fuller sought 45 years. Mack was eligible for a maximum sentence of 90 years.
Mack sat stoically in handcuffs as the judge read the sentence. A few feet away, his victim was expressionless. Afterward, she said the sentence was longer than she had expected.
“I wish there was more opportunity for rehabilitation for people like this,” the Naperville woman said.
Anderson said he had been inclined to give Mack a sentence closer to the minimum, but after learning that he had been cited for 42 disciplinary violations in the youth home, he chose the more severe penalty.
Anderson noted that Mack, in an emotional, apologetic address to the court, spoke of his faith. The judge also called Mack a “bright, articulate, intelligent young man” who had a supportive and loving family.
“While I’m incarcerated,” Mack said, “I plan to use this as a lesson, an opportunity to get myself together.”
Eugene Mack Sr., the defendant’s father, said he would ask Anderson to reconsider.
