Elgin man sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexual assault of a woman at knife point

ELGIN — Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced that Zanzibah T. Stewart, 46, has been sentenced to serve 50 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections after being found guilty of several felonies by a jury on Jan. 24.

Stewart was found guilty of three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, Class X felonies; three counts of criminal sexual assault, Class 1 felonies; and one count of aggravated unlawful restraint, a Class 3 felony.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Amanda Busljeta and Matt Rodgers told the court that on Nov. 8, 2020, Stewart threatened a woman he knew at the time with a knife before he proceeded to sexually assault her.

According to Illinois law, Stewart must serve 85% of 48 years of his sentence for the Class 1 through 3 felonies of aggravated criminal sexual assault and is eligible for day-for-day sentencing for the other two years of his sentence count seven, aggravated unlawful restraint, all served consecutively.

Additionally, Stewart received credit for the 1,304 days he served at the Kane County jail. Stewart is also required to register for life as a sexual offender per the Illinois Sexual Offender Registration Act.

“This is justice. The 50-year sentence ensures that the defendant will never be able to hurt the victim or any innocent person again. I hope it also sends a clear message that this horrendous criminal conduct will not be tolerated,” said Busljeta. “My thanks to the victim for her bravery and to ASA Rodgers, former ASA Bill Engerman, the Elgin Police Department, and Victim Advocates Martha Martinez and Linda Hagemann for all their hard work on this case.”

Stewart is now being held at the Stateville Correction Center in Crest Hill.