COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Prosecutors have charged a Grand Crossing man with molesting a 9-year-old girl in February.
The girl was taking out trash near South Side home when Jerome Belton, 31, grabbed her from behind, shoved his hands in her pants and began to touch the girl under her clothing, Assistant State's Attorney Brian Whang said during a bond hearing Wednesday.
The pair had never met before the Grand Crossing attack, which happened about 4:20 p.m. Feb. 16, prosecutors said.
According to Whang, the girl fell to the ground and began to scream as Belton touched her. Belton then ran off, prosecutors said, and the girl told a neighbor and her mother what happened.
Surveillance footage shows Belton following the girl to a dumpster before grabbing her, Whang said.
Police released still images of Belton taken from the surveillance footage, authorities said, and three different people came forward to identify him.
Belton, of the 6900 block of South Kimbark Avenue, was arrested on a warrant Monday in Wisconsin. He is charged with attempted predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. on Wednesday ordered Belton held in lieu of $450,000 bail.
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