COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — An Illinois Secretary of State employee sexually attacked a woman while giving her a driving test on the Far South Side earlier this month, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Joshua Atwater, 29, is accused of groping the woman under her clothing after making multiple advances during her test, which took place Nov. 10 near the Secretary of State's drivers' services facility at 9901 S. King Driver.
According to prosecutors, Atwater sat in the front passenger seat of the woman's car as she drove through Roseland as part of a test to get her license. Atwater grabbed the woman's phone, perused her photos and commented on the victim's appearance, authorities said.
He then told the woman, 32, to pull into an alley in the 10000 block of South Vernon Avenue, Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Estrada said during a bond hearing Tuesday.
Once the car was parked, Estrada said, Atwater pinned the woman to her seat and proceed to grope her vagina and breasts. Atwater pulled down the woman's shirt, prosecutors said, and placed his mouth on her chest.
The woman told Atwater to stop and was eventually able to push him off her, according to prosecutors.
At that point, Estrada said, Atwater suggested the victim "should want to make a friend and not an enemy." The woman demanded directions back to the Secretary of State facility. Atwater said she passed the test.
The victim reported the attack to police, Estrada said, and officials collected DNA samples and a rape kit at a nearby hospital.
Atwater has been on paid administrative leave since the attack was first reported last month, a spokesman with the Secretary of State's office confirmed Tuesday.
The office is working with the Chicago Police Department to determine whether further action is necessary.
In court Tuesday, Atwater's defense attorney said Atwater was unemployed and had no money.
Logs from the Secretary of State's Office and surveillance footage confirm that Atwater was the woman's instructor on the day in question, according to prosecutors. She was later able to identify him in a photo array.
Atwater, of the 400 block of West North Avenue, is charged with criminal sexual abuse using force.
Cook County Judge Donald Panarese Jr. on Tuesday said Atwater could be released on his own recognizance as long as the Cook County Sheriff's Office agrees to provide electronic monitoring. If not, Atwater will be responsible for $100,000 bail.
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