Man charged for sexually abusing multiple women while using fake art student scheme

A Chicago man is being held without bail after prosecutors say he spent months posing as an art student to lure women into fake photography projects before sexually abusing them across the North Side.

Gabriel Wilkins, 41, was ordered detained until trial in Cook County Criminal Court on May 14 and is being held in custody until his next court date of June 3. He faces charges of criminal sexual abuse and public indecency stemming from a July 2025 incident in Northalsted, as well as a separate public indecency charge from an April 2026 incident on a CTA Brown Line train.

According to court records, Wilkins approached two women outside a bar at 3356 N. Halsted St. on July 5, 2025, introducing himself as "David" and claiming to be an art student who needed help with a photography project. After persuading the 28-year-old woman to be photographed, he moved the pair away from the street, exposed himself and sexually abused her. The women fled to the Red Line immediately after.

The victim did not report the incident until Jan. 17, 2026, after seeing a TikTok video describing the same pattern of behavior and connecting with other women online who had been similarly targeted.

In the CTA case, prosecutors say Wilkins was caught on April 13 exposing himself and recording a woman on a Brown Line train near Diversey Parkway before fleeing at the Fullerton stop. Both victims identified Wilkins in photo arrays.

Prosecutors disclosed six additional active investigations involving similar incidents between August 2025 and January 2026, spanning multiple North Side neighborhoods. The accusations include groping during fake photo shoots, forced sexual contact and, in one case, a woman who accused Wilkins of striking her repeatedly during a previously consensual encounter.

Wilkins has no prior arrests.