A person accused of sexually assaulting a number of girls in Chicago “went out attempting to find victims” within the metropolis till as just lately as February, in what police described as a “horrific” sequence of crimes.
Chakib Mansour Khodja, 36, now faces 18 counts in reference to the assaults of not less than 5 girls, although police say extra victims could possibly be unidentified. The incidents passed off between Could 2022 and February 2025.
Among the many costs are felony counts of aggravated felony sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated felony sexual abuse leading to bodily hurt, aggravated kidnapping, tried residence invasion and extra.
“Town is safer at present. Each single girl on this metropolis, each single man who has a spouse, a mom, a daughter, a sister ought to all be respiratory a sigh of aid,” Cook dinner County State’s Legal professional Eileen O’Neill Burke mentioned. “This man was a violent serial predator who actually went out attempting to find his victims. It was solely by way of the dogged police work – they did not surrender. They saved investigating for 3 years and so they discovered him.”
Among the many victims had been three 21-year-old girls and two 36-year-old girls.
The incident passed off on Chicago’s North and Northwest Sides, together with in common neighborhoods like Logan Sq., Lakeview and Wicker Park. The confirmed experiences embody the next places:
- Could 7, 2022: 2000 block of N. Humboldt Blvd. (14th District); 36-year-old feminine sufferer
- July 15, 2022: 800 block of W. Wellington (nineteenth District); 21-year-old feminine sufferer
- January 18, 2025: 2800 block of N. Bloomingdale (14th District); 36-year-old feminine sufferer
- January 22, 2025: 2800 block of N. Central Park (14th District); 21-year-old feminine sufferer
- February 2, 2025: 2600 block of N. Troy (14th District); 21-year-old feminine sufferer
Police mentioned they labored to discover a sample in every of the circumstances, used proof from victims, video footage, DNA processing and extra to unravel the case. Khodja was arrested Friday at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, the place he was getting back from out of city, police mentioned.
“These girls survived one thing that was horrible and horrible, and it is one thing that they’ll proceed to dwell with all through the remainder of their days,” Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling mentioned in a press convention saying the costs Monday. “Though the offender is in custody, we all know there may be nonetheless an extended street for the ladies as these circumstances are prosecuted. We stand with the survivor and all survivors of sexual violence and sexual assault.”
In the latest incident, police mentioned a girl had entered her residence constructing, however realized she left her keys within the entrance door to the lobby. When she circled to seize them, a masked man was standing within the doorway armed with a knife. He held the knife to her throat as he assaulted her within the residence entryway. When the sufferer tried to make noise to alert her roommate, she mentioned he pushed the knife into her throat more durable.
When the person left, the sufferer alerted her roommate and 911 was referred to as. DNA proof collected from the girl’s hand matched DNA recovered in different sexual assault circumstances being investigated by Chicago police, authorities mentioned.
Within the Jan. 18 incident, a girl was strolling residence from a comfort retailer when she instructed police she seen a person in black following her. The person, who was carrying socks with no sneakers and hood and masks, finally grabbed the girl from behind and held a knife to her facet as he made her stroll to a different location earlier than assaulting her on the sidewalk.
The girl mentioned she tried to seize her telephone to name for assist throughout the assault, however dropped it. She additionally fought her attacker throughout the assault.
DNA proof from the girl once more matched different circumstances being investigated by police, authorities mentioned, and video footage captured from the comfort retailer was used to assist establish a car related to the incidents.
Authorities acknowledged the likelihood that there could possibly be extra victims not but found.
“We will by no means assume that we now have positioned each sufferer that this predator has focused. We want to know that if there are extra victims on the market,” Snelling mentioned.
He urged anybody in want of help to name the 24/7 Chicago Rape Disaster Hotline at (888) 293-2080.
“That is extraordinarily essential as a result of we now have survivors and individuals who have been victimized who’re nonetheless on the market and perhaps haven’t instructed their story or reached out for that,” Snelling mentioned. “The Chicago Rape Disaster Hotline is out there 24 hours a day and is free and confidential.”
