Man Suspected Of Raping 11-Year-Old Highland Park Girl In Custody
HIGHLAND PARK (WWJ) - The man suspected of abducting and raping an 11-year-old girl who was on her way to school has been arrested after a month-long manhunt.
Highland Park Police Chief Kevin Coney said the suspect was taken into custody around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, aboard a Greyhound bus that had stopped at a station in Jackson, Mich.
The case is being forwarded to the prosecutor's office for a review of possible charges; an arraignment is expected in the next few days.
"He was in Chicago. We don't have all the facts yet about how long he's been gone, but he was out of town," Coney said during an afternoon press conference. "He was on the bus when arrested."
Investigators say the man is accused of attacking the girl on Wednesday, Dec. 10 between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., as she walked to her school bus stop along Church St. in the area of McNichols and John R.
The man allegedly dragged the girl at gunpoint into an abandoned home and sexually assaulted her. The suspect reportedly told the girl that she had her mother to blame for the attack because she shouldn't have been walking alone.
Coney said Facebook actually played a large role in tracking down the suspect, who was identified only as a Detroit man with a criminal history.
"We got a tip and another tip led us to another tip and we were pretty sure that this was the person we were looking for," he said. "There was some social media involved, some messages that were exchanged ... just like his locations, things of that nature, where and when he was at."
Detective Brian Menge, the lead on the case, said all those 18 and 20-long hour days pouring over hundreds and hundreds of tips definitely paid off.
"It came down to a tip," said Menge. "That's how we caught this guy. A tip from one of our officers."
"I've personally spoken to mother and father of victim and they're elated. Matter of fact, they were both crying on the phone when I told them that we had a suspect that was in custody," he said. "They relayed this information to the victim, who was also very happy and elated to it."
The girl is recovering, Coney said, but no one really knows how the crime is going to affect her life.
"To be totally honest with you, the only thing that's going to help is prayer. I mean, because, I don't know what's in this little girl's heart or what she's going to feel or what her outcome is going to be later in life," he said.
Crimes like these are hard to prevent but with community involvement, Coney said residents might be able to save another child from a similar fate.
"To try to prevent it, it's going to take a village," he said. "We've got to quit saying that we don't see anything, we don't hear anything. We have to stand up and look out the window and ask questions. If you see something wrong, call or say something or intervene. If somebody might have intervened, this might not have happened. If a child running, ask her why she's running or just pay attention. That's what it's going to take, for us to stand up."
Donna Houston, the victim's aunt, says she's grateful for the strong community support but is struggling to understand why this happened.
"You can't explain it to her, you can't explain that," said Houston. "There are no excuses, no reasons, no why(s). You can't explain that to a child."
As soon as the attack took place, search parties started scouring Highland Park, looking for the man. Officials credited the girl with giving an outstanding description of the suspect, which aided in efforts tracking him down.
"For days, we went door to door, abandoned houses, homeless shelters, hitting businesses with the Crime Stoppers fliers, trying to let the public know that what he's done, what happened to this child, and how they can play a role and help to capture this guy," community organizer Rev. Malik Shabazz told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "When the people, the police, the politicians, the press, the preachers and the philanthropic community unite for a cause bigger than ourselves, it turns out to be the unbeatable coalition."
Mayor DeAndre Windom expressed gratitude for everyone involved in the case, from police units to religious organizations to the community members themselves.
"What we're experiencing today is the community being involved in the city. I just want to thank the community for all the calls, all the tips, all the efforts that they put forth for us to be here today," he said. "It's still a very sensitive matter that we're dealing with but it just brings you joy, it brings a lot of light, it brings hope and it brings love into a community that definitely needed it.
"We want to send a message out to the world that in Highland Park, this is a community driven city and I will respect the people of the community for taking a stand and if they take a stand, we're going to stand with them," Windom continued.
Eric Matthews, who lives in Highland Park, said he's noticed a change in behavior among other residents since the girl was attacked.
"I've been at the bus stop and seeing ladies walking with their kids and daughters to the bus stop, waiting for the bus to come," Matthews told WWJ's Ron Dewey.
Matthews said he feels safer knowing a potential predator is off the street, but cautioned that it could still happen again. Another resident, Nancey Vandemere, said she hopes parents will learn from the incident.
"Parents need to stand up anyway," she said. "We shouldn't be leaving our kids out here alone by themselves. That's not safe. If the parents would have been here, it wouldn't have happened."
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