Man gets six years for rape in Mount Prospect

A man who authorities say was caught in the midst of a sex assault on an unconscious woman in Mount Prospect was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

Christopher Balodimas, 22, of 840 Trace Drive, Buffalo Grove, was convicted of criminal sexual assault of a woman who had been drinking alcohol in an apartment complex in Mount Prospect.

According to testimony in the case, Balodimas and two juvenile men had carried the woman to a basement apartment in the complex on May 6, 2009. Acting on a tip, police got into the apartment just after Balodimas had sex with the woman, and found them while she lay unconscious in a pool of vomit, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber said.

Cook County Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr., who found Balodimas guilty in a trial last month, had harsh words for the defendant. When someone is forced to have sex while incapacitated, the judge said, that's tantamount to using force, such as a gun or knife.

Balodimas said he was abused as a child by his father with a belt, and he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but the judge said Balodimas never did anything to improve his situation and showed no remorse for his crime.

"He's never done anything in his life," the judge said. "It's easy to sentence this defendant to many, many, many years in the penitentiary ... But a judge always, and I underline always, has to sentence with mercy and compassion."