CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The family of an 11-year-old girl who said she was sexually assaulted last Thursday afternoon as she walked home from school didn't help the case by showing the girl a picture of a suspect who was captured by community members. But, police said they're working on it.
The incident occurred in West Woodlawn, at an alley near 62nd and Indiana.
A man who looks like the sketch that police put out was held by citizens, and they took a picture that was then sent to the girl.
Her mother, Lissy Wakefield, said her daughter broke down and said that was the man.
She said she was told that showing her the picture may have compromised the case.
“My daughter has seen the photos and they released him out of the hospital,” Wakefield said Tuesday morning.
The girl’s grandmother, Lutia Payne-Midcalf, also expressed frustration.
“You trying to tell me, they’re going to let this man go, you telling me that? I’m not accepting that,” Payne-Midcalf said.
Family members spoke outside police headquarters, demanding that the man be charged.
Police said it didn’t help that the girl saw the man’s photo. They said the man is a suspect.
“(Cook County) State’s Attorney (Office) is not a rubber stamp to us, so we have to present a strong case with evidence so that the state’s attorney will have a chance at approving charges,” Superintendent David Brown said.
Brown acknowledged emotions are running high.
“We do have a sense of urgency but we have to get things right, we have to do it right,” added Brown.
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