Man charged in sexual assault of girl, 15, in Evanston

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:36AM

Evanston police have arrested a 20-year-old Chicago man in connection with the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl who said the attack occurred Friday evening as she was hanging out with friends and consuming alcohol at a residence on the 1700 block of Brown Avenue.

Gerard McGregor, of 7347 N. Hoyne Ave., Chicago, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class 2 felony; contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a Class A misdemeanor; and aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony, in the incident.

Bond information wasn’t immediately available, but McGregor is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on the charges March 2 in Cook County 2nd District Circuit Court, Skokie, said Cmdr. Jay Parrott, the Evanston Police Department’s public information officer, in a news release Monday on the incident.

Parrott said the teen reported the assault to her mother after arriving at home at about 11:15 p.m. Friday.

The department’s juvenile bureau investigators then picked up the investigation, Parrott said, and were able to locate a suspect on the scene where the incident had taken place.

Further investigation revealed that the girl was in the company of friends, along with the suspect and other male acquaintances, consuming alcohol, Parrott said.

After some time had passed, the girl accompanied the suspect alone to his vehicle, he said. The teen alleged that the offender then forced himself on her to have intercourse, he said.

During their investigation, police found a loaded handgun within the suspect’s car, Parrott said in the release. The handgun was not used in the alleged sexual assault, he said.

He said the Cook County’s State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed the case, approving the charges against the suspect.