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Teen says TV show helped bring back memory of sexual assault

A crime show about a teenager who was raped prompted a teen to come forward to say she was sexually assaulted in North Aurora when she was 5.

The girl, now 16 and living in West Chicago, testified Tuesday she was watching a TV show in May 2010 and realized what happened to her a decade earlier.

“I started remembering what happened to me. I started crying,” she testified. “I told (my mom) I’d been raped, and by who.”

Adrian Ramirez-Alcantar, 30, of Warrenville, faces two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13.

Alcantar was indicted and arrested in early 2011 and has been held on $3 million bail in the Kane County jail while his case is pending.

The girl testified that Alcantar was living with her and her family in a house in the 400 block of Locust Street in North Aurora when the assaults took place. She said she was scared to tell anyone because Alcantar said her parents would get in trouble.

“When it happened to me, I never told anybody,” the girl testified. “It’s not easy to tell anybody exactly what happened.”

The girl’s mom testified she never saw any inappropriate contact or interaction between her daughter and Alcantar, but that’s because she was working second shift from 2 until about 10:45 p.m., and Alcantar had a job working third shift.

The girl’s mother did say her daughter was not necessarily acting normal for a 5-year-old. “She didn’t like to go out and play with her friends a lot,” the mom testified. “She would focus on television a lot. She was very quiet.”

Tim Martin, an investigator for the Kane County Child Advocacy Center, said that when questioned about the allegations, Alcantar denied them. Martin said Alcantar insisted the girl initiated contact by straddling his leg and Alcantar had to tell her that type of behavior was for adults. Alcantar also said the girl tried to grab him while he was sleeping, according to Martin.

The bench trial before Kane County Judge David Akemann will resume Wednesday. If convicted, Alcantar faces up to 30 years in prison.

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