14-Year-Old Sexually Abused On CTA Bus In Logan Square: Police [Updated]
By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Apr 27, 2017 4:16PM
A 14-year-old girl was sexually abused on a CTA bus in Logan Square Wednesday morning, and police are looking for the suspect who fled after the attack.
The attack, first covered by DNAinfo, was reported at 9:40 a.m. on a 56 bus traveling on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square, Officer Kevin Quaid told Chicagoist.
Witnesses say the suspect, described as a man in his 50s, approached the teen and began sexually abusing her. He exited the bus at Milwaukee and Fullerton, and fled west. The girl was taken to St. Mary's Hospital and was listed in stable condition.
CTA told NBC it is cooperating with police and offering up any surveillance video that might shed light on the incident and the suspect.
Update 3:30 p.m.: An arrest has been made and charges have been filed in the case, according to the Chicago Tribune. Carlos De La Torre, 79, is being held in lieu of $500,000 in bail on one count of felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child between 13 and 17, police say.
Prosecutors have shared some of the disturbing details of the case. De La Torre allegedly began harassing the teen at a bus stop and the situation escalated after he sat next to her. He threatened to kidnap her if she didn't come home with him, prosecutors say. He also allegedly groped her, whispered explicit things in her ear, forced her to touch him and he also touched himself.
Prosecutors say the bus driver stopped the bus and locked the doors when she realized what De La Torre was doing. He pleaded to be let out but only managed to flee when a passenger suggested he use the emergency handle.