A North Side man charged with sexually assaulting a woman he met on Tinder while he was on bail for allegedly sexually assaulting another woman he met on Tinder has struck a deal with prosecutors that will have him serve just two years probation.
According to court, Christian Valcich, 29, pleaded guilty last week to one count of criminal sexual abuse with force, which was reduced from Class X felony criminal sexual assault, and one count of aggravated battery by strangling records. Prosecutors dropped a host of felonies in the plea deal, including nine additional counts of criminal sexual assault. Cook County Judge Lawrence Flood oversaw the case and sentenced Valcich to two years probation in each case. Valcich will serve the sentences concurrently.
Valcich was initially charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery by strangling after a woman accused him of raping and choking her during a Tinder meet-up in February 2019. He got out of jail by posting $3,000 in that case.
While that case was still pending, a 27-year-old woman met Valcich on Tinder and went to his home for the first time about a week later, prosecutors alleged. Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said the woman drove to Valcich’s home, and the two drank a beer in his kitchen for about 45 minutes before they moved to the living room and talked for another half hour or so.
Valcich began aggressively kissing the woman and sexually assaulted her as she repeatedly told him, “no,” according to Murphy. The prosecutor then provided explicit details of an extended assault that the woman said took place in Valcich’s living room.
The woman repeatedly told Valcich that the attack was painful, but Valcich forced her to have sex two more times, Murphy said. Valcich called the woman derogatory names and applied force to the woman’s neck, according to allegations that Murphy presented to Judge David Navarro in a bond court hearing last summer.
Valcich “joked that he had impregnated the victim,” Murphy said.
After crying and cleaning herself in Valcich’s bathroom, the woman left and called her ex-boyfriend to talk about what happened, according to Murphy. She reported the alleged incident to a rape hotline the next day and sought treatment at Swedish Covenant Hospital.
An attorney for Valcich disputed the state’s allegations last year and said the victim was intoxicated.
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