CHICAGO (WLS) — The man accused of a brutal 2018 attack in West Town pleaded guilty Friday, and was sentenced to 26 years.
Rufus Carson pleaded guilty to attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual assault in connection with the alleged beating and sexual assault of a then-18-year-old woman after she left the Chicago/Milwaukee Blue Line station at approximately 7 a.m. Aug. 27, 2018.
Carson had been held without bond.
Judge David R. Navarro previously said Carson presents “a real and present threat to the community.”
“The victim was on her way to a business in West Town,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Nancee Hofheimer. “The defendant can be seen on video jogging down the platform and getting onto the escalator directly behind the victim. He walks up a few steps on the escalator so he is positioned directly behind the victim.”
Prosecutors said surveillance video from a home near the attack shows Carson following the victim south on Ogden Avenue and attacking her.
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“The video shows the defendant, wearing the same white T-shirt, jeans and a hat, running up to the victim from behind. The defendant placed one hand over the victim’s face and dragged the victim into an alley behind a construction fence,” Hofheimer said.
The victim was beaten, concussed, suffered a traumatic brain injury, showed strangulation marks and had been sexually assaulted, prosecutors said.
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She was discovered about an hour after the attack in a pool of her own blood by construction workers who called 911, prosecutors said.
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“The victim struggled with the defendant,” Hofheimer said. “The video of the attack contains audio and the victim is heard screaming as she is dragged into the alley behind the fence.”
Carson was arrested at approximately 9 p.m. the same day.
Carson has several prior convictions, including five felony convictions.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.
Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
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