WRIGLEYVILLE: Details Of Sexual Assault Emerge; Cases Rare In Wrigleyville Bars

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UPDATE JUNE 4: Police sources say they are “confident” that there is “no rapist on the loose” in the area.
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Detectives continue their investigation into a criminal sexual assault that allegedly took place early Sunday in the basement men’s room of Wrigleyville’s Irish Oak bar.

After Sunday’s attack, the victim appeared to lose consciousness near Sports World on the southeast corner of Clark and Addison according to an officer on the scene.

The Sun Times says police have secured surveillance footage from Irish Oak’s manager and adds that Chicago Police have issued the following description of the suspect:

a black man, about 6-foot, 170 pounds and wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans.

If that description sounds familiar, it may be because you read CWB’s description of the suspect two days ago:

male, black, 6-feet tall, thin, wearing a gray tee shirt, and jeans

The city’s data portal says that, before Sunday’s incident, criminal sexual assaults had been reported inside of Wrigleyville’s Clark Street bars only five times since 2001: Once in 2004, once in 2006, twice in 2009, and once last year.

In last year’s incident, officers handling the 911 call said that the attack was alleged to have taken place in the basement of Irish Oak. It is not clear how the case panned out. We have emailed Irish Oak management for comment and are awaiting their reply.

One fact becomes clear when criminal sexual assault stories are reported. Many people don’t know what criminal sexual assault is. As one woman told ABC7 in a story about Sunday’s incident,

We never think that we’re going to have the risk of being sexually assaulted or even raped inside of a bar that we’re at.

In Illinois, criminal sexual assault is rape. The state has not had a crime called “rape” for decades. Lawmakers changed the name, as well as the names of other sex crimes, in an effort to reduce the stigma that prevents victims from coming forward.

An unintended consequence of the change is that many people in Illinois think “criminal sexual assault” is less serious than rape. It is not.

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CWBChicago was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has expanded since then to cover Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown, and other North Side Areas. But our mission remains unchanged: To provide original public safety reporting with better context and greater detail than mainstream media outlets.