Man sexually assaulted 14-year-old girl on a Red Line train, prosecutors say

CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a 46-year-old man with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl on a Red Line train this week. A CTA employee detained Alfredo Torres at Cermak-Chinatown after two passengers saw him attacking the girl and pushed the train’s emergency call button, officials said.

The girl, who ran away from home eight days earlier, noticed Torres staring at her as they both boarded the inbound train at Howard around 4:40 a.m. on April 24, prosecutors said in a detention petition.

Torres sat two seats away from the girl, and she let him put a shirt on her lap because she was cold, the petition explained. It said she also allowed Torres to hold her hand because she “thought there might be cultural differences.”

But as the ride continued, Torres covered himself and the girl with a blanket, restrained the girl with his arms, and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors alleged.

Alfredo Garcia Torres (Chicago Police Department)

Two men in the same train car who saw the attack pressed the emergency button and told the train operator that a minor was being sexually assaulted. A CTA employee entered the train at Cermak-Chinatown and held Torres until Chicago police arrived, officials said.

She was taken to Insight Hospital in good condition for treatment. Her father also came to the hospital after being contacted by CPD.

Judge Ankur Srivastava detained Torres, saying that Torres had “preyed upon a homeless runaway 14 year old on a CTA train,” making him a “danger” to children that cannot be mitigated by electronic monitoring.

Torres is charged with one count of criminal sexual assault by force. His CPD arrest report indicates that this is his first arrest in Chicago.

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