A supervisor with the Chicago Park District has resigned after being accused of sexual misconduct with an underage female lifeguard, the latest development in a growing investigation into allegations of harassment and abuse within the district. NBC 5’s Natalie Martinez has a timeline and more details.
A former supervisor with the Chicago Park District is facing multiple charges in connection with the alleged sexual assault and abuse of a 16-year-old lifeguard over the summer and early fall of this year.
According to Chicago police, Mauricio Ramirez, 32, faces felony counts of criminal sexual assault of a minor and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor in connection with the incidents.
According to authorities, the two worked as lifeguards with the Chicago Park District over the summer of 2021.
Beginning in July 2021, the two began to exchange text messages and phone calls, according to a proffer obtained by NBC 5. During the conversations, the teen victim allegedly told Ramirez that she was a junior in high school, and that she was 16 years old.
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Prosecutors allege that the defendant had multiple sexual encounters with the victim in the case, with the two allegedly engaging in both oral and vaginal sex, according to the proffer. The inappropriate relationship continued through the end of September, according to prosecutors.
In late September, the victim in the case told a friend and her parents about the encounters. The victim and her parents then made a report to Chicago police, and a CSA kit was collected at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
The victim in the case apparently deleted text messages that were exchanged between the two, but phone records returned through T-Mobile and AT&T showed that the two had exchanged numerous texts and phone calls during the summer.
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Police say that DNA testing was completed on the CSA kit in late October, and that DNA samples obtained from the victim closely matched that of the suspect, with a margin of error of 1 in 1.6 million.
Ramirez was placed into custody by the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Apprehension Task Force on Wednesday afternoon, and appeared in court on the felony charges Thursday.
Bail was set at $500,000, and Ramirez’s next court date is scheduled for Nov. 17.
