WHEATON - A 51-year-old Glen Ellyn man has been sentenced in DuPage County Circuit Court to 36 years in prison for sexually abusing a mentally disabled girl over several years.

Gerard Schlaiss admitted he inappropriately touched and fondled the girl, who was between the ages of 13 and 17, on six occasions before his arrest in September.

Schlaiss was arrested after police received a report from a witness who alleged seeing inappropriate contact between the man and the girl.

According to the Illinois State Police sex offender registry, Schlaiss was convicted in 1990 of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in Lake County. Schlaiss also was convicted of selling tobacco products to minors in DuPage County in 2005, said Assistant State's Attorney Liam Brennan.