Overview
- Chicago police identified and arrested 41-year-old James Spencer in connection with the alleged abuse of a 6-year-old girl at a Chatham bus stop, and he has been charged with one felony count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13.
- Authorities say the girl was at a bus stop with her mother when the suspect approached, pretended to fall, grabbed the child and then sexually abused her, according to prosecutors.
- Officers arrested Spencer at his residence in the 6600 block of South Perry Avenue in Englewood and he was ordered detained and scheduled for a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
- Investigators relied on community tips, surveillance images and a photo identification by the child to link Spencer to the June incident, officials said, and they released limited additional details because the probe is active and the victim is a minor.
- The arrest resolves the specific Chatham case highlighted in recent police alerts but does not close other South Side sexual-assault investigations that remain under review; Spencer also has prior felony sex convictions reported by prosecutors.