A former Warrenville man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a West Chicago woman in 2001, a cold case cracked more than two decades later by a DNA match.

Judge Daniel Guerin convicted Alberto Gomez, 54, on eight felony counts after a bench trial that concluded Oct. 7, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. The charges include three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, four counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Prosecutors said the assault happened on Nov. 25, 2001, at about 4:22 a.m. The victim was alone in her West Chicago apartment when she realized Gomez was inside, according to the state's attorney's office. He struck her in the face, head and stomach before sexually assaulting her. She contacted the West Chicago Police Department after Gomez fled.

The case went cold.

In 2022, Gomez's DNA was submitted to a national database after he was detained for illegal re-entry into the United States. Late that year, the West Chicago Police Department learned the DNA profile matched swabs collected from the victim's sexual assault kit in 2001, according to the state's attorney's office. Investigators also linked Gomez's DNA to a 2010 Warrenville criminal sexual assault, a West Chicago police report shows.

Detective Herbert was assigned the case in January 2023. He obtained a booking photo from a May 2000 arrest by the St. Charles Police Department and compared it to a FACES composite sketch the victim had created in 2001. The photo was determined to be "very similar" to the composite, according to the police report.

An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 15, 2023. The DuPage County Sheriff's Office picked up Gomez from the Three Rivers Federal Correctional Institution in Texas on July 11, 2023, and transported him to the West Chicago Police Department for an interview. During questioning, Gomez described his work uniform as a black sports coat, white button-down dress shirt, bow tie and black pants. The victim had described her attacker wearing a black sports coat, white button-down shirt and black pants.

Gomez appeared in bond court on July 17, 2023, where bond was set at $5 million with 10 percent to apply. He has been held at the DuPage County Jail since July 2023.

"In DuPage County you cannot outlast the law," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement after the verdict.

Gomez's next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 5, for post-trial motions and the return of a pre-sentence report.