Girl, 14, Sexually Assaulted in South Side Alley

An attacker sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl during a daylight attack Thursday morning in a Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood alley.

Police say the girl was walking in the alley in the 400 block of East 71st Street when a man riding a bicycle approached her about 11:45 a.m.

The man grabbed the girl, forcibly removed her pants and sexually assaulted her. After the attack, the girl ran to a nearby restaurant.

"She was just scared, she was hyperventilating really," employee Jennifer McKay said. "She said he had medium-sized small dreads, a blue baseball cap on with the letter A on it, he had blue jean pants on and tattoos all over his neck and all over his arm, and he was on an adult mountain bike."

The suspect, thought to be between 20 and 30 years old, fled and is not in custody, police said. Authorities were not yet provide a specific description of his appearance.

McKay said after the victim came into the restaurant, neighbors immediately tried to find the perpetrator.

"To do something like that to a 14-year-old girl is unreal," said Ace Johnson, who works at a barbershop next door. "She was shaking, she was very scared, so we tried to do our best to search for the guy."

The street is busy during the daylight hours, but McKay says the overgrowth and abandoned buildings in the alley create a potentially dangerous situation.

"You can see how it can be just easy for someone to get raped," McKay said.

The girl was taken to University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital for treatment, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call police.

Copyright CHIST - SunTimes
Contact Us