Crime & Safety
Ex-Cop Gets Prison Time For Rape Of Teen Girl
Alan Bokowski was a longtime family friend who the victim's family said assaulted the teen girl while she helped care for his ailing mother.
LAKE IN THE HILLS, IL – A former Lake in the Hills cop is headed to prison for sexually assaulting a teenage girl. Alan Bokowski, 61, who retired as the Lake in the Hills Police Department's deputy police chief in 2006, has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for the 2015 rape of the 16-year-old girl. Bokowski, family members said in victim-impact statements, was a longtime family friend, and the girl had been helping Bokowski care for his ailing mother when the assault occurred, the Northwest Herald reports.
The girl's stepmother first started going with the teenage girl to help Bokowski with his mother but eventually, the girl started to go by herself. The Northwest Herald reports the family knew Bokowski for more than 20 years and considered him a part of their extended family: "Since I’d known Al for a long time, I trusted him with her," the stepmother wrote in her statement.
As part of a negotiated plea deal, Bokowski pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of criminal sexual assault of a victim ages 13 to 17 years old, according to online court records. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to pay $5,642.04 in fines and $908 in restitution. Criminal sexual abuse and weapon charges were dismissed.
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Bokowski must also register as a sex offender.
Authorities first launched an investigation into the former cop on Nov. 29, 2016, when the victim's concerned parents met with police. They told them their juvenile daughter was sexually assaulted while at a residence in Crystal Lake, according to a news release from the Crystal Lake Police Department. Following an investigation, an arrest warrant was issued for Bokowski, of the 1300 block of Dolo Rosa Vista in Crystal Lake.
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Bokowski was also later charged with weapons violations for possessing several shotguns, firearm ammunition, pistol and rifle round without a firearm owner's identification card and accused of touching a woman inappropriately in 2016, according to the Northwest Herald. Those misdemeanor weapons and battery charges have since been dismissed.
Bokowski is next expected in court on Aug. 21 for status hearing regarding his court-ordered restitution.
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