Palatine man accused of assaulting 11-year-old

A 45-year-old Palatine man is charged with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl who police said was under the care of his roommate.

Jose Alfredo Vargas-Guzman, of the 800 block of N. Bayside Drive, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child.

Palatine police accuse Vargas-Guzman of inappropriately touching the girl, who was at his apartment on March 7 while Vargas-Guzman's roommate was baby-sitting the child. The baby sitter was unaware of what happened, police said.

Cook County prosecutors said the day after the assault, the girl told her mother, father and uncle what happened. The adults confronted Vargas-Guzman about the girl's allegations and he admitted that he did it, prosecutors said.

The adults did not immediately report the assault to police.

"They didn't report it because they didn't understand the legal process and didn't want to traumatize her," Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Maureen McGee said.

McGee said the parents planned to report the assault on March 17 when they both had the day off work. However, on March 16, the girl told someone at her school about the assault and DCFS got involved.

The sexual assault charge against Vargas-Guzman is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Palatine police reported no prior contact with Vargas-Guzman.

Bond was set Thursday at $250,000. Vargas-Guzman is scheduled to appear in court April 30.

Barbara Vitello contributed to this report