COOK COUNTY, IL – A 40-year-old Palatine man is charged with criminal sexual abuse after Sheriff’s Police Detectives learned he forced himself on a 26-year-old woman and sexually abused her inside her home, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
At approximately 6:56 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, Sheriff’s Police responded to a call at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Long Valley Drive in Palatine. Upon arrival, detectives met with the female victim who stated she was inappropriately touched by the offender, later identified as Juan Ramirez-Perez, without her consent. She also stated he threatened her to stay silent during the incident because he knew where she worked. Shortly after, Ramirez-Perez then left the apartment through the kitchen window.
Upon further investigation, a male witness who also resided in the apartment told detectives that Ramirez-Perez was a guest the previous night and had slept inside the bathtub of the bathroom where the incident took place. The witness provided detectives with a photo of Ramirez-Perez and information on where he lived. Detectives went to the offender’s home, matched the photo and description, and took him into custody without incident.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved one count of Criminal Sexual Abuse with Force, a Class 4, Felony. Ramirez-Perez appeared today at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse for his initial hearing where a judge ordered him held in custody at the Cook County Jail. His next court hearing is scheduled on March 12.
The public is reminded that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the government in a court of law.
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