Rapist Sentenced To 28 Years For Attack At Niles Tanning Salon

NILES, IL - A man a judge referred to as a "cold and calculating criminal predator" was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the 2012 rape of an 18-year-old employee of a tanning salon in Niles. Firas Ayoubi, 32, of Chicago received the sentence from Judge Jeffrey Warnick on Wednesday after previously being found guilty to several violent crimes associated with the attack at Palm Beach Tan on Touhy Avenue, the Niles Herald-Spectator reports.

Ayoubi never admitted to the crime, but was found guilty to charges related to prosecutors' allegations that he targeted the victim, who was alone at the salon at the time. They said he walked in wearing a ski mask and gloves, dragged the young woman to a back room and sexually assaulted her.

The attack ended when a man entered the salon and chased Ayoubi away as he fled the area in a vehicle.

Ayoubi was already a sexual predator at the time of the crime for a conviction related to indecent solicitation of a child in 2007. In the 2012 rape, he was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint and attempted aggravated robbery.

The victim provided an impact statement that was read by a prosecutor in court prior to sentencing. She said she still experiences post-traumatic stress disorder from the attack and is bothered by the sound of wind chimes because chimes at the salon's entrance sounded when Ayoubi walked in.

More via the Niles Herald-Spectator

Photo via Cook County Sheriff's Office