Chicago — Prosecutors say a Chicago man sexually abused a teenage girl as she walked to school in downtown Chicago on Friday morning. Chicago police arrested the man nearby shortly after the attack.
Arthur Slater, the administrator in charge at Jones College Preparatory High School, 700 South State, informed parents about the incident via email on Saturday.
Prosecutors said the girl was walking to school around 8 a.m. when the stranger approached her from behind and put his hand between her legs. He touched the girl’s private parts through her leggings and ran away as she turned around.
The victim and another student who saw the assault immediately informed school security officers with a description of the man, prosecutor Nicole Murphy said. School officials immediately contacted Chicago police.
CPD officers reviewed school surveillance video, which showed the man walking behind the girl and looking around before putting his hand between her legs just outside the school building, Murphy said. Based on the video, an officer radioed a description of the suspect to other patrol units.
Chicago cops arrested Mario Campos, 34, in the 600 block of South Dearborn at 9:05 a.m. because he resembled the description, according to Murphy. She said he later admitted to the crime.
Campos is charged with criminal sexual abuse of a victim between 13 and 17 years old.
His defense attorney said he works full-time as a package handler and lives with his mother and his 2-year-old son. The attorney said that Campos is also “very involved” in 11th Ward politics as a canvasser. She did not identify the politician or candidate that he works for.
Judge Maryam Ahmad ordered Campos to pay a $15,000 deposit toward bail to get out of jail on electronic monitoring. She also told him to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Slater, the school administrator, told parents that “a member of our school community was sexually assaulted immediately outside of our school entrance by an individual who is not a member of the Jones community.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, additional safety measures will be put in place at our school,” Slater wrote. He declined to provide details about the attack “for privacy reasons.”
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