Prosecutors: Homework assignment sparks sexual abuse charges

A high school homework assignment led to the arrest of a Mount Prospect man on sexual abuse charges, according to Cook County prosecutors.

Juan Vazquez Ortiz, 45, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of two girls, one between 7 and 10 years old and the other between 10 and 12 years old. He was held on $40,000 bail Thursday and ordered to have no contact with his accusers or anyone under 18.

The abuse took place between 2011 and 2014, according to prosecutors.

The allegations came to light last fall after one of the girls, now 17, wrote as part of a psychology class homework assignment that she felt unsafe around Vazquez Ortiz, according to Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Nicole Murphy. School social workers informed the girl's parents. During a subsequent family meeting, the girl told them about the abuse, which Murphy said took place when the girl was in third or fourth grade.

At that same time, another girl, now 19, accused Vazquez Ortiz of abusing her when she was in the fifth grade, Murphy said.

Vazquez Ortiz next appears in court May 7.