Accused Child Sex Predator Found Hiding Out On South Side: Sheriff

COOK COUNTY, IL – A Chicago man accused of sexually assaulting a child and slipping his GPS tracking device was found hiding out last Friday in the Gage Park neighborhood, Cook County Sheriff’s Police said.

Jorge Mondragon-Bahena, 48, was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a minor under age 13 in 2022. He was court-ordered on the Cook County Sheriff’s Electronic Monitoring while his case was pending.

In October 2023, sheriff’s police said Mondragon-Bahena slipped his GPS tracking device while awaiting trial and left his assigned address in the 3500 block of North Southport Avenue in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood. At the time, sheriff’s electronic monitoring investigators made multiple attempts to locate him.

Mondragon-Bahena was declared a fugitive, and a Cook County arrest warrant was issued on the charge of escape–violation of electronic monitoring, in addition to the child predatory criminal sex assault charge.

In January, fugitive task force investigators learned that Mondragon-Bahena was living in Chicago under various aliases and working as a cook in an unknown local restaurant. Last week, investigators developed additional information that he was residing in the 4500 block of South Talman Avenue.

Cook County investigators went to the residence where Mondragon-Bahena was taken into custody without incident, sheriff’s police said. On March 7, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony escape charges.

Mondragon-Bahena appeared for a pretrial hearing the following day at the George M. Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where he was ordered detained in Cook County Jail.