After being seen sexually abusing a seven-year-old attending an online class from her Chatham home, an 18-year-old man was charged with predatory criminal assault Saturday.
The perpetrator, Catrell Walls, has been refused bond as he appeared in bond court for charges of predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under 13.
According to the Police, on Thursday, during the child's remote learning session, the abuse was streamed. The girl was seen performing a sexual act on Walls, CBS Chicago reported.
Based on reports from the State's Attorney's office of Cook County, the girl was signed on to her virtual class through Google Meets, and the session was on lunch and independent study period.
During this period, which is around 11:50 AM to 2:30 PM, the teacher gave the students a choice to either sign off or stay signed on given that they are on mute and that their cameras are turned off.
It was also noted that the girl logged in to the session at around 1:10 PM and put her microphone on mute, adhering to the instructions. However, she missed to turn off her camera.
At the time, four other students were signed on to class during the break.
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The teacher of the victim was working on a different computer at the time. However, after a while, she heard some of the students who were logged in asking what was happening. She then turned to her Google meet and saw her seven-year-old student performing a sexual act on the suspect through the camera.
After seeing what has transpired on the other end of the screen, the teachers told her other students to log off from the session. She then called the name of the victim and told her to turn off her camera. The prosecutors then stated that the teacher saw the suspect pick up the computer and close it.
Immediately after witnessing the abuse, the teacher reported the incident to the school's principal. The principal then reached out to the child's family, the police, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Daily Mail reported.
In light of the incident, the girl's father, along with the principal and the school's CEO, arrived at the residence. Upon arriving, the girl's family members immediately asked her about what happened.
The girl did not immediately admit to the sexual assault but stated that the suspect hit her. Walls was also present at the time, but he denied the accusations.
Meanwhile, according to Crime Online, the school principal also talked to the girl in private, and the child admitted that it was not the first time that the suspect has made her do sexual acts on him. However, she did not tell anyone that it had happened before.
"I don't want my daddy to know... it's a secret," the seven-year-old stated.
After the incident, the girl was then taken to the hospital and underwent an examination by a sexual assault nurse examiner.
Meanwhile, Walls was arrested on the scene.
On Friday, the girl was interviewed, and she admitted that Walls has been assaulting her since she was six years old. On the other hand, the suspect admitted that the girl performed sexual acts on him but refused to answer why while asking for forgiveness for what he has done.
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