Mather High School student charged with raping girl at gunpoint in Albany Park alley

Surveillance images show two men CPD sought in connection with the armed sexual assault of a teenage girl on November 21, 2025. Prosecutors said the suspect on the left is Gerson Flores. (Chicago Police Department)

A 17-year-old Mather High School student is charged with raping a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint in an Albany Park alley late last year while his accomplice held the victim’s friend at knifepoint nearby. Gerson Castillo Flores, originally from Colombia, was ordered detained pending trial by Luciano Panici, Jr.

Prosecutors told Panici that the victim and her friend, also 15, were walking toward a bridge to take pictures around 9:20 p.m. on November 21. As they approached the Rockwell Brown Line station, they noticed two males were following them and one, later identified as Flores, was wearing a ski mask.

The girls crossed the street to avoid the males, but Flores and his accomplice began chasing them, prosecutors said. The victim’s friend tripped and fell, separating the two. Flores allegedly caught up to the victim, began speaking to her in Spanish, which she did not understand, and pressed a dark gun to her chest.

Prosecutors said Flores forced the girl into the alley behind the 2900 block of West Wilson Avenue at gunpoint, pushed her against a wall, and sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors allege he assaulted her while armed and ordered her to stay quiet or he would shoot her.

During the assault, the victim managed to text her friend her location, writing that she was being raped. Her friend entered the alley, at which point the accomplice pulled a knife and held it to the friend’s stomach to prevent her from intervening or calling 911, and took her phone, prosecutors said.

At one point, prosecutors said, the victim kissed Flores in an attempt to get him to lower his guard, and in doing so was able to see his face when he briefly lifted his mask.

A man walking his dog spotted the teenagers, called 911, and then walked away.

Surveillance cameras captured Flores and his accomplice leaving the area. Prosecutors said Flores admitted to firing his weapon, which he claimed was an air gun, as he walked backwards out of the alley after the attack.

Investigators used partial plate information from the assailant’s getaway car to find body-worn camera footage from a traffic stop on the same vehicle on May 12, 2025. That footage allegedly showed Flores with the accomplice and a second person he was with on the night of the assault.

The victim identified him in a photo lineup last month.

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About Tim Hecke 1912 Articles
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago's managing partner. He started his career at KMOX, the legendary news radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim went on to build syndicated radio news and content services that served every one of America's 100 largest radio markets. He became CWBChicago's managing partner in 2019. His email address is [email protected]