Man Held On $5M Bond For Sexual Assault In West Chicago

WEST CHICAGO, IL — An Arizona man is being held on $5 million bond in connection with a sexual assault that took place in a West Chicago apartment in 2001.

Alberto Gomez, 51, of Arizona, has been charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual abuse in connection with the Nov. 25, 2001, incident.

According to authorities, a woman who lived in West Chicago woke up to find Gomez standing inside of the bedroom of her apartment. Prosecutors say Gomez pushed the woman onto her bed, hit her and sexually assaulted her before fleeing the scene.

Police say that in 2022, Gomez's DNA was collected when he tried to come back into the United States illegally and that his DNA was a match for samples collected after the sexual assault in West Chicago.

“The identification of a man suspected in a more than two-decade-old sexual assault sends the message that in DuPage County, we will never give up on a case or a victim," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

Berlin added, “While a case this old may have gone cold, it remained active, and I commend the West Chicago Police Department for their efforts that allowed us to charge Mr. Gomez with the sexual assault of a defenseless woman."

Gomez is currently in custody in DuPage County Jail. He is set to appear in court again on Aug. 16.