Bail Set At $750K For Man Charged With Bucktown Rape
CHICAGO (STMW) -- Bond was set at $750,000 Sunday for a Pilsen man charged with raping a 26-year-old woman in Bucktown early Saturday.
Michael Giffin, 25, of the 1700 block of South Carpenter Street, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint.
Police say they responded to a call for help at 4:15 a.m. in the 2300 block of West St. Paul Avenue. A woman told authorities she had been sexually assaulted. When the woman fled an apartment after the assault — Griffin allegedly pursued her and dragged her back inside, police said.
The woman was taken to Saint Mary Medical Center in "stable" condition, police said.
Giffin's bail was set at $750,000 Sunday by Judge Peggy Chiampas. Griffin works as a youth soccer coach, is studying industrial design at UIC and is an assistant on the UIC soccer team, his attorney said.
Prosecutors say he met the victim at one bar and went to another bar with her, and then shared a cab back to her home.
She invited him in and they had a beer, but when she said she was tired and wanted to go to sleep, he forced her to have sex with him multiple times, prosecutors said. At one point he threatened to kill her, it's alleged.
Afterwards, Giffin went to the bathroom and the victim ran out into the hallway and screamed for help, but Giffin grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her back into the apartment, prosecutors say.
He then choked her until she was unconscious, it's alleged.
The victim later identified Giffin as her attacker, prosecutors say.
Wearing a striped sweater and dress pants, he spoke during a brief hearing Sunday only to indicate that he understands he cannot contact the victim if he makes bail.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
