Staff Report

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child, authorities announced Friday.

Ryan M. Rice, 35, was sentenced by Judge Brendan Maher after pleading guilty to two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, one count of aggravated child pornography and one count of child pornography.

Rice’s sentence stems from a 2014 report that he was sexually abusing a young child. The abuse occurred from December 2013 to June 2014 at a home in Winnebago County. Detectives conducted a forensic investigation on Rice’s phone and found lewd images of the victim.

The results of the investigation were reviewed by the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office and the defendant was indicted by a grand jury.

Predatory criminal sexual assault of a child is a Class X felony that is punishable by a sentence
of six to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Rice was sentenced to 26 years for those offenses.

Rice was sentenced to three years for aggravated child pornography and six years for child pornography. His sentences will run consecutively. R.