A man has been sentenced to ten years for sexually assaulting a woman in her Uptown apartment building in 2018.
Rashad Edwards, 44, pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm before Judge John Lyke, according to court records. Lyke handed down the ten years and ordered register as a sex offender for life. Prosecutors dropped five additional felony charges in their deal with Edwards.
The 30-year-old victim was returning to her apartment in the 4400 block of North Magnolia after a night out with co-workers when she crossed paths with Edwards on a staircase around 2:30 a.m. on May 8, 2018, prosecutors said.
The two, who did not know each other, had a brief conversation before Edwards grabbed the woman and dragged her down the stairs and out the front door, according to Murphy.
Edwards pulled the woman into an alcove, threw her down, pinned her to the ground, and sexually assaulted her. At one point, he placed his hand over the woman’s neck and mouth, prosecutors alleged.
Following the attack, Edwards allegedly told the woman he was sorry and asked her not to call the police. She did.
More than two years later, on June 4, 2020, investigators determined that DNA collected after the attack matched Edwards and took him into custody, according to prosecutors.
Edwards is scheduled to be released from prison on July 24, 2029, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
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