Girl, 11, Sexually Assaulted At Walker Branch Public Library In Morgan Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at a public library Monday afternoon in the Morgan Park neighborhood.
Police said the girl was in the George C. Walker branch library at 111th Street and Hoyne Avenue after school around 4 p.m. with her mother in the corner room of the library.
When her mother left the room, a male who was sitting nearby entered the room, and sexually assaulted the girl, according to police.
The girl was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park after the attack. At last check, she had been stabilized.
Area South detectives were questioning a person in custody late Tuesday.
As CBS 2's Chris Tye reported, questions were swirling Tuesday afternoon about what happened the last time the man was at the library – and about overall safety in the library stacks.
"I've been coming here since the early 80s; since I was a child," said Robert Stacker. "And I never heard anything like that here."
Indeed, for Morgan Park lifers, the Walker branch library has been a haven for learning and safety for decades.
"I would leave my grandchildren to run around freely too in the library," said Lisa Vinaccia. "I won't now."
Police said the man who sexually assaulted the girl had been banned from the library in the past, due to inappropriate behavior with female library patrons. The library said it did not ban the man – but had called police about his behavior in the past and at one point had asked him not to come back for a month.
"Has been in the library multiple times and made women uncomfortable by staring at them.
He was asked to leave because women felt uncomfortable in the past," said Chicago Public Library spokesman Patrick Molloy.
Molloy said in a statement that until Monday, the man had not committed any crimes.
"At one point, when asked to leave and not to come back for a month – he got very upset -- the police were called," Molloy wrote. "We have no legal authority to prevent someone to come back. We can ask them to leave but can't ban them without court order or criminal activity."