Rosemont man charged with ongoing sexual assaults of two girls

A Rosemont man who volunteers with an adoption support group has been charged with sexually assaulting two young girls repeatedly over a period of years.

Christopher J. Cooper, 26, of 6119 Hawthorne St., was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault.

If convicted, Cooper would face life in prison. Associate Judge Hyman Riebman Saturday ordered him held without bond in Cook County Jail.

One victim, now 15, was age 5 to 12 while up to 200 assaults occurred between March 1999 and June 18, 2005, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mary Beth Kinnerk said.

The other victim, now 18, was age 8 to 13 during the time of nine alleged assaults, between March 1999 and Nov. 10, 2003.

Cooper admitted to the acts in a taped statement, Kinnerk said. She would not explain what prompted the charges to come three to five years after the alleged incidents because that was not addressed in court.

"That's a big question," defense attorney Larry Andolino said, suggesting the girls may have had ulterior motives. "Why did this come up now?"

Andolino said his client maintains his innocence, and said he was confident he would be vindicated in a jury trial. He was not aware of any physical evidence in the case.

Andolino said he will seek to have Cooper's statement thrown out of court, because he was with Cooper at the Rosemont police station Thursday when his client asserted his First Amendment right to remain silent.

"He said he did not want to give a statement," Andolino said. "Then all of a sudden the next day, police say he made a statement."

He said Cooper has no prior criminal record, works for a cleaning company, and volunteers with Illinois Council on Adoptable Children, a support service for adoptive children and parents.

Andolino believed Cooper had been a foster child and then adopted. His adoptive father had died, but his adoptive mother maintains her son's innocence. "She was just floored by this," Andolino said. "It's an unfortunate situation."

Calls to the Illinois Council on Adoptable Children were not answered Saturday.

The case was scheduled to continue Sept. 16 at Cook County Circuit Court in Rolling Meadows.