COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Ashburn man was ordered held without bond Friday after prosecutors said he raped three teenage girls and a young woman in four separate attacks since 2009.
Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos-Cecil denied bail to 28-year-old Kerwinn Cross, saying his attacks became increasingly violent and his targets younger and younger.
Cross, of the 9300 block of South Normal Avenue, was charged with six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Prosecutors said in April 2009, Cross attacked an 18-year-old girl about 2 a.m. in the 7900 block of South Western Avenue. Cross forced the teen inside a car with two other people and drove her to a nearby music studio.
After refusing to let her leave the music studio, Cross took the teen out to a car, forced her to perform oral sex on him and then raped her, prosecutors said.
On June 20, 2013, Cross lured a 25-year-old woman into his car, promising to give her a ride home from work, prosecutors said. Instead, Cross took the woman back to his house where prosecutors said he raped and choked her.
The woman told police that during the altercation Cross tried to get his dogs to attack her, but the dogs did not. The woman then ran out of Cross' house without her clothes and got the attention of a bystander who called 911.
Two days later, Cross and another woman convinced a 16-year-old girl to get into their car and go to Cross' home. Prosecutors said Cross and the woman attacked and choked the teen before sexually assaulting and raping her.
The teen was able to leave the home and make it to a nearby church where police were called, according to court documents.
In the most recent attack, Cross targeted a 15-year-old girl, prosecutors said. On June 25, Cross convinced the teen to come to his Ashburn home where he asked to have sex with her, prosecutors said. When the girl refused, Cross began raping her, and when the teen screamed, Cross threatened her with a "sharp object," prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said all four victims positively identified Cross as their attacker, and DNA evidence positively linked him to at least the 2009 attack.
Cross' court-appointed public defender said Cross lives with his fiance and described him as the "proud father" of three children between ages 11 months and 8 years old.
In denying bond, Judge Kuriakos-Cecil said based on evidence presented by prosecutors, the violence in each attack "seemed to be escalating" and "as the crimes have progressed, the ages have also been decreasing."
