Sex Crimes

January 8, 2020

Uber Driver Gets Five Years for Sexually Assaulting Passenger

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Uber driver, Ahmed Tawfeeq, was recently sentenced to five years for sexually assaulting one of his passengers. Now, he will face additional charges alleging that he attempted to hire someone to hurt, silence, or threaten her.

The charges against Tawfeeq included criminal sexual abuse, promoting prostitution, attempted sexual assault, aggravated battery, and unlawful restraint.

Now, Tawfeeq will appear as a defendant in a second trial alleging that he posted bond for a fellow inmate and offered him another $6,000 to “kidnap” the complainant in an apparent attempt to silence or intimidate her.

December 10, 2019

Gym Coach May Lose Citizenship if Convicted of Sex Crime

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Jose Vilchis is facing charges that he sexually abused one of his students at I&M Gymnastics Academy. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice is suing to revoke his citizenship. Vilchis is a naturalized U.S. citizen, meaning that he came to this country on a green card and then applied to become a full citizen of the United States. Even though the crimes for which Vilchis are charged are heinous, the government does not have the authority to revoke citizenship unless they can prove that a naturalized citizen committed some subversive act, joined an enemy of the state, or committed fraud in order to get citizenship. So even though Vilchis is charged with a sex crime, that alone is not enough to strip a naturalized citizen of citizenship.

Did Vilchis Lie on His Application for Citizenship?

The U.S. Department of Justice is claiming that he did. They say that Vilchis unlawfully concealed three other instances of sexual abuse of minor girls beginning in 1985 when he was a green card holder. However, Vilchis was never arrested or convicted of these crimes. Nonetheless, U.S. immigration asks those who are petitioning to become full citizens if they ever committed a crime for which they were not convicted. Vilchis, apparently answered ‘no.’

November 8, 2019

Pastor Comes Forward and Admits to Sexual Abuse

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Baptist Pastor, Charles W. Lyons, confessed to a crime he committed against a female relative when he was a teenager. Ostensibly haunted by the act, Lyons told other pastors that he would prefer that they hear it from him instead of some other way. He has since resigned from his position with the church.

The Chicago baptist church conducted an investigation of Lyons after he came forward with his confession. They investigated whether or not Lyons had taken any sexual improprieties with members of his congregation. He had not.

Now, it is unclear whether or not Lyons will face charges for sexual assault of a minor. For reasons of privacy, the victim has not been named nor is it apparent how old Lyons and his victim were when the sexual assault occurred.

October 4, 2019

Man Found in Connection With Year-Old Rape Investigation

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A man entered a 43-year-old woman’s apartment through a back door that she had left open to get some air and sexually assaulted her. A year passed with no suspects. Now, DNA links Christopher Nelson to the crime. He has been denied bail.

Decades of CSI-style TV shows have led the American public to believe that DNA evidence is unimpeachable. Indeed, it provides law enforcement with its best means of tracking individuals to certain crimes. DNA links Nelson to the crime and the woman he assaulted also picked him out of a lineup.

Understanding DNA Evidence in Rape Cases

August 16, 2019

Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Woman He Met on Dating App

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

There are quite a few threads in this one. According to police, 28-year-old Jason Taylor posed as a rideshare driver to assault a woman he met on Tinder. Police say that Jason Taylor used a false identity on the app and appeared to be stalking college students.

Police also say that Taylor began chatting with two Northwestern students who later refused to meet with him. He then began harassing them online.

In the case of the woman whom he did allegedly assault, it is unclear what their interaction was prior to the event. Taylor is being questioned in connection with a number of other sexual assaults that occurred around the Evanston area and beyond. Northwestern police are asking that anyone with information come forward at this time.

July 19, 2019

Public School Teacher Accused of Having Sex With Student

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Chicago Public School teacher, Jason Gil, is being accused of having sex with one of his students, a 14-year-old girl. Gil has been charged with criminal sexual assault, solicitation of child pornography, solicitation to meet a child, and grooming. Gil is a part-time bilingual teacher at Waters Elementary School. He has currently been removed from his position.

According to the complaint, Gil was working at another Chicago school when the abuse occurred. The girl reported the abuse, and Gil was arrested by Skokie police.

Parents at Waters Elementary have signed a petition against the teacher urging the prosecutor not to cut him a deal. Parents are concerned that the prosecutor will let the teacher off easily. Over 150 parents have signed the petition.

July 12, 2019

The Case Against Harvey Weinstein

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

To date, there are 87 women who have reported sexual assault or harassment against Harvey Weinstein. Now credited as the progenitor of the #MeToo movement, Weinstein has retained the help of a prominent Chicago attorney, Donna Rotunno, to represent him against the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against him. Weinstein stands accused of five felony sex crimes.

Rotunno has a unique specialty. She primarily represents those who are charged with sexual assault. This case has propelled her into the national spotlight as she attempts to defend her most notorious client, a man who is alleged to have gotten away with rape for decades because of his prominence in the film industry and forcibly and coercively leveraged women into performing sex acts on him as pay to play for landing key roles in film.

Two of those charges stem from an assault that occurred in 2013 involving allegations of forcible rape and a 2006 allegation that alleges predatory sexual assault.

July 3, 2019

Man Accused in Decade-Old Sexual Assault

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Chicago taxi driver Mustafa Dikbas was accused of holding a woman hostage and sexually assaulting her in his taxi earlier this year. The man was later arrested in Oswego for a 2007 sexual assault that also occurred within a taxi.

The investigation began in 2007 when a woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted on a trip from Chicago to Oswego by her cab driver. She was able to provide a description of the driver to police but did not know the name of the cab company and could not provide information on the vehicle. DNA evidence was collected and found its way into the DNA index system.

Dikbas was arrested earlier this year in a similar assault on a 26-year-old woman in his taxi and charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and kidnapping. Dikbas’s DNA was entered into the system and turned up a match.

June 12, 2019

New Lennox Man Faces Attempted Sexual Assault Charge

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A 17-year-old is being charged with attempted sexual assault and two counts of aggravated battery. The woman was on the Old Plank Trail in Frankfurt when the attacker, Anthony M. Carbone, allegedly pushed her to the ground. The woman asked him what he was doing and Carbone apparently looked startled and then ran off.

Was this the act of a young man who suddenly came to his senses and realized what he was doing was wrong? Or is it the act of a young man who thought twice about a sex crime he was about to perpetrate?

The police determined at some point during interrogation that Carbone was attempting to rape the woman he knocked over. But the question of how they came about that information and why the man chose to flee instead of continuing to do whatever it was he was doing will complicate their case.

March 15, 2019

Robert Kraft Refuses Plea in Solicitation Lawsuit

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Is it ever worth it to take a plea? Not if you are Robert Kraft, the owner of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. The prosecution offered Kraft a sweetheart deal on two misdemeanor solicitation charges. If Kraft agreed to state that “he would have been proven guilty had the case gone to trial” then the prosecution would drop all the charges. But Kraft and his attorney, smelling blood in the water, wants to force the prosecution to actually prove their case in court or dismiss the charges outright. Why?

Everyone knows that Kraft did exactly what he is being accused of, but the problem is not that he did it, it is how the prosecution came by the evidence that he did it. Essentially, police officers have Robert Kraft on video receiving sexual favors from working girls at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. So, why is he not dead to rights, and why is the prosecution extending him such a great deal?

In order to understand that, we have to delve a little deeper into how they came by that information.