Man Found Guilty Of Raping Northwestern Student In Dorm

SKOKIE, IL — A Cook County judge Friday found a West Chicago man accused of raping a former Northwestern University student guilty of criminal sexual assault, and not guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault or sexual abuse. The Chicago Tribune reported the woman, then a 20-year-old undergraduate, testified she had allowed the man to sleep on the floor of her room, but she was awoken later that night by the man assaulting her after pulling down her clothes.

Pablo Herrera, 33, of West Chicago, faces up to 14 years in prison at sentencing resulting from an incident six years ago at Foster-Walker (PLEX) residential hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus, according to the Tribune.

Lawyer Domingo Vargas, who represented Herrera at trial, questioned why the woman "insisted" he stay in her door room and did not immediately call 911, instead letting him stay in the room and go back to sleep, the Tribune reported.

According to police, the woman reported the assault to authorities later that week, but Herrera could not be located for several years and was not arrested until 2016.

The Northwestern University Police Department was the investigating agency, according to court records. Spokesman Bob Rowley declined to say why campus cops took so long to find Herrera.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Vargas also asked her what she was wearing that day, according to the Tribune.

The woman testified that the two had met and gone drinking earlier that night in Chicago, according to the Tribune. She said had repeatedly avoided his attempts to kiss her before agreeing to let him spend the night on her floor. During the assault, she asked him several times to stop, which he did.

He later apologized and said she was "lucky because some of his friends wouldn't have stopped," the woman reportedly testified.

The two met on a Metra platform and communicated on social media for several months before the incident, with Herrera first introducing himself via a fake name he used on Facebook, the Tribune reported.

Herrara faces four to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced. His bond was revoked and he was taken into custody Friday following the bench trial before Judge Lauren Gottainer Edidin.

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