Boyfriend Sexually Assaults Girlfriend After Text Breakup: Cops

OAK FOREST, IL -- An Oak Forest man is accused of beating and sexually assaulting his girlfriend after she tried ending their relationship in a text message, prosecutors said. Mason Nealon, 20, appeared before Cook County Judge John J. Mahoney on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm.

The two had been in a dating relationship when Nealon’s teenage girlfriend texted him on Jan. 4 that she wanted to break up. The prosecutor said Nealon asked her to meet him at his Oak Forest apartment in the 5000 block of West 159th Street, so they could talk. When she arrived at his apartment, Nealon is said to have grabbed her car keys and then hit her in the head “15 to 20 times.”

The teen fell on the floor, where Nealon proceeded to kick her, the prosecutor said. Nealon allegedly tried to muffle her screams by placing a sweatshirt over her face, after which he sexually assaulted her. The girlfriend was able to escape the apartment, and called her parents and 911. She was taken to a hospital where she was treated for cuts on her face. A sexual assault kit was administered and samples were sent to the Illinois Crime Lab. Court records indicate that Nealon was arrested on Jan. 23.

Nealon’s attorney told the judge that his client graduated from Bloom Township High School. He said that Nealon does not deny having sex with her. The attorney further stated that the first people the girlfriend talked to were not her parents, but another person.

“She didn’t mention that she was raped,” Nealon’s attorney said. “Maybe they both wanted to break up.”

Mahoney said that Nealon “holds a real and present threat to the victim.” The judge ordered Nealon to be held without bail. Nealon is due back in court Feb. 20 in Bridgeview.