In June 2023, just three days after walking out of Stateville Correctional Center on parole for his tenth felony conviction, a Chicago man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting an unconscious woman inside a River North CTA station elevator. On Tuesday, that man received a six-year prison sentence.
Anthony Richardson, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual assault in connection with the attack. Judge Neera Walsh handed him the sentence and ordered him to submit his DNA to a law enforcement database and register as a sex offender.
Richardson had reported to Stateville on May 31, 2023, to begin an 18-month term for felony retail theft, but was released the same day after receiving credit for time served. Just three days later, on June 3, police arrested him after CTA workers allegedly found him assaulting a 55-year-old woman who had passed out from drug use in an elevator at the Grand Red Line station.
Prosecutors said security cameras captured the woman smoking an unspecified narcotic before collapsing on the floor. Richardson, who did not know her, allegedly entered the elevator, lowered his pants, and climbed on top of her.
A CTA employee who entered the elevator about ten minutes later saw Richardson holding the woman’s head and making “thrusting motions.” A second worker also witnessed the incident. When Richardson noticed them, prosecutors said, he let go of the woman, who fell limp to the floor.
Police arrested Richardson nearby, and both workers identified him as the assailant. He confessed to the assault, though his attorney initially argued he had a learning disability that may have affected his understanding of Miranda rights.
Richardson’s record includes a robbery conviction in 2020, multiple narcotics and theft cases, and 39 misdemeanor convictions, according to prosecutors.
