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Sex Offender Gropes Woman at Brown Line Stop, Cracks Joke: Prosecutors

By Erin Meyer | October 1, 2014 4:33pm
 Adrian Balle, 48, allegedly cracked a joke to the woman he is accused of groping as she walked to the Franklin Street Brown Line station on Tuesday, prosecutors said. 
Adrian Balle, 48, allegedly cracked a joke to the woman he is accused of groping as she walked to the Franklin Street Brown Line station on Tuesday, prosecutors said. 
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Chicago police Department

RIVER NORTH — A man convicted of two previous sex crimes — and who has repeatedly failed to register as a sex offender — was arrested Tuesday after he groped a woman walking up the stairs to the Franklin Brown Line station, prosecutors said. 

The woman, 23, was walking up to the train platform when Adrian Balle, 48, ran up behind her and grabbed her buttocks, prosecutors said at a court hearing Wednesday.

He continued to follow the woman, grabbing her a second time, prosecutors said. The woman spun around and shoved Balle, who proceeded to smile at the victim and make a joke, officials said. 

Balle allegedly smacked the woman's hand away and then turned around to walk back down the stairs.

At the platform a CTA employee asked the woman why she was crying. She relayed what happened and pointed out Balle, who was just entering a Dunkin Donuts at the bottom of the stairs.

The victim later identified Balle, and video surveillance captured the attack, prosecutors said. 

Balle has three misdemeanor cases pending against him, including one for battery and a second for assault. In 1986, he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and served four years in prison, according to prosecutors. After he got out, he was convicted of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and robbery. 

He also has a 2005 burglary conviction and two convictions for failing to register as a sex offender. 

On Wednesday, Cook County Judge James Brown ordered Balle held on $300,000. 

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