Man Sentenced To 6 Years For Rape Of Northwestern Student

SKOKIE, IL — A man convicted of raping a 20-year-old Northwestern student in her dorm room in 2012 was sentenced Friday to six years in prison. Pablo Herrera, now 33, was found guilty of criminal sexual assault by a judge in April after waiving his right to a jury of his peers. He was acquitted of additional charges of aggravated criminal sexual assault of criminal sexual abuse, according to his attorney and court records.

According to testimony at trial, Herrera and the undergraduate student returned to a residential hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus from a night of drinking in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood. The woman testified she allowed Herrera to spend the night on the floor of her room. She awoke to find he had removed her pants and was assaulting her, she testified. The Chicago Tribune reported eventually Herrera stopped and apologized after she repeatedly asked him to do so.

The attack was reported the next day to Northwestern University police and charges were filed about nine days later. It would be another five years before Herrera would be taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the Daily Northwestern. A spokesperson for the private university police force, which is exempt from state public records law, declined to provide any information regarding why it took so long to arrest him.

The woman Herrera was convicted of raping, now a 27-year-old attorney, spoke through tears at his sentencing hearing in Skokie, the Tribune reported. She said she was left traumatized in the aftermath of the assault, at one point contemplating suicide. Despite the six-year legal process, she said reporting the incident to authorities was the right thing to do.

“This avenue – through the hoops, hurdles and delays of a clunky criminal justice system – is the only way to hold those who hurt others officially accountable for their actions,” she said during Herrera's sentencing hearing, according to the Tribune.

The woman testified at trial the two had met on a train platform and learned they had gone to the same church and school, the Tribune reported. They communicated for several months over social media before the assault, but prosecutors said Herrera had planned on assaulting the woman and used a false name in their communications.

Herrera faced between four and 15 years in prison for the conviction. Herrera must spend at least five years in state prison and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Testifying on his behalf at the Oct. 12 sentencing hearing, Herrera's fiancee and mother-in-law said he was a good father and was well-liked by friends and family. But Cook County Associate Judge Lauren Edidin said Herrera made the choice to violate the woman, according to the Tribune.

“He pursued her. He used his experience to prey on her. He violated her," Edidin said. "Those were his actions. His choices.”

Herrera's attorney, Blue Island Mayor Domingo Vargas, said Edidin provided no explanation for why she acquitted Herrera of the lesser charge of criminal sexual abuse but convicted him of assault for the same act. He said Herrera, who is currently represented by the public defender's office, is likely to file an appeal.