Oct. 23--A former Chicago Spanish-language music producer and television host was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting four young girls when he was supposed to be giving them voice lessons, according to prosecutors and court records.
Elpidio "Juan" Contreras, 56, was found guilty on sexual assault and sexual abuse charges by Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood, according to a news release from the Cook County state's attorney's office and court records. The assaults and abuse took place between 1994 and the time that he was arrested in the spring of 2013, according to prosecutors.
The girls Contreras was supposed to be teaching were about 9 to 13 when he repeatedly fondled them, assaulted them and forced them to pose for nude photographs, prosecutors said.
Contreras, a musician and talent promoter, had hosted a three-hour local Saturday afternoon music show on WJYS-TV for 15 years and was well-known in Chicago's Spanish-speaking community at the time of his arrest.
Contreras, of the 2300 block of North Kostner Avenue, had an office in the 2000 block of North Cicero Avenue and abused at least one of the girls there. He used the girls' voice lessons as a way to get them alone, fondle or sexually assault them, and take lewd pictures of them, prosecutors said.
A girl who was 11 years old when she was abused in 2012 and 2013 told her parents, and they reported Contreras' abuse that spring. The other three girls reported their abuse after Contreras' arrest was covered in news reports, prosecutors said.
Contreras is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 3.
chicagobreaking@tribune.com
