An 18-year-old Kankakee County man was charged early Wednesday in connection with the sexual assault of a woman in December at a Chicago Transit Authority Red Line station in the Rogers Park neighborhood, police said.

 

James Shorty, of Momence, faces aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping charges -- both felonies -- after a 50-year-old woman was attacked at the Morse Street Red Line station, according to a Chicago Police Department release.

 

Police allege Shorty confronted the woman in the early morning hours of Dec. 19 at the elevated stop and forced her to a nearby construction site where he sexually assaulted her.

 

He then reportedly stole the woman’s purse and was last seen fleeing south from Lunt on Glenwood Avenue about 6 a.m., police said at the time.

 

The victim was taken to an area hospital, authorities said.

 

The police investigation was aided by Chicago Transit Authority surveillance cameras, which captured footage of a Shorty in the area around the time of the attack.

 

Eyewitnesses told police that a man who looked similar to Shorty had been seen loitering in the vicinity — including around the train station — in the 6 hours leading up to the attack, police said.

 

Shorty is scheduled to appear in bond court Wednesday morning.

 

--Sun-Times, Sun-Times Media Wire

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