Des Plaines man charged with sexually abusing 12-year-old girl at motel

A 20-year-old Des Plaines man who prosecutors say sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl at a Prospect Heights motel was ordered held on $200,000 bail Thursday on predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges.

If convicted of the most serious charge, Rafael Castro faces six to 30 years in prison.

Castro did not appear in court for his bond hearing Thursday because he is hospitalized at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, according to a Prospect Heights police detective. The detective did not elaborate on Castro's condition, although Castro was described as "involuntarily committed."

Castro and a witness drove the girl from her relative's Chicago home to the motel around 10:30 p.m. Monday. At the motel, the girl told Castro she "just wanted to hang out," Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Nicole Murphy said.

Upon noticing the 12-year-old was not at home, her older sister tracked the girl's location via cellphone to the motel, Murphy said. The sister asked the motel's front desk clerk for information on the girl, but the clerk refused.

The sister subsequently called police, who went to the room and found the girl, Murphy said. It was unclear whether the older sister went to the motel herself.

Prosecutors say Castro received probation for a 2018 robbery conviction and jail time for a 2018 retail theft. He next appears in court April 22.