An 18-year-old resident of a state-run group home in Ravenswood ran away with a 13-year-old boy who lived at the same facility and raped him by a nearby park last month, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Richard Carter and the boy left Lawrence Hall, a group home run by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services, before the attacks by a bridge near River Park on Nov. 28, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said.
It was Carter’s idea that the two leave the home, at 4833 N. Francisco Ave., and wander around the bridge, Murphy said.
That’s where Carter raped the boy twice, Murphy said.
When the pair returned to the home the next day, the victim allegedly told a supervisor about the sexual assaults and that “he didn’t want to do it.”
The minor was taken to a hospital where a criminal sex assault kit was administered. Soon after, Carter was reported missing from the home, Murphy said.
Carter eventually came back to the home where he was arrested on Dec. 29, Murphy said. Carter allegedly admitted to going to the park with the boy twice but said he only raped him once.
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The results of a DNA buccal swab test are pending, Murphy said.
Carter was ordered held on $10,000 bail for one count of criminal sexual assault. If he is able to post bail, Carter cannot have contact with anyone under the age of 18, Judge David Navarro said.
Carter told Navarro that he has no place to live besides a DCFS home. The judge responded by telling Carter that the state agency would have to determine the logistics of his housing.
DCFS officials did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
