Nov. 09--A Cottage Grove Heights man has been charged with engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year-old runaway after allegedly lying to her about his age and allowing her to stay in his home for a week.
Gavin Lamar Billups, 23, of the 200 block of West 95th Street, was charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and held in lieu of $250,000 bail by Judge James Brown in bond court Saturday.
On July 24, the victim ran away from her Evanston home and was approached by Billups on a CTA Red Line stop, prosecutors said. Billups allegedly lied to the victim and told her he was 17 years old. The victim told Billups she was a freshman in high school, prosecutors said.
Billups allegedly let the victim stay in his home until Aug. 1. During this period, he engaged in sexual acts with her, prosecutors said.
The victim left after a citizen recognized her from a missing persons alert.
Billups, a tech employee, was arrested Thursday about 10:20 a.m. on a sidewalk near his home. A public defender in bond court Saturday said Billups lives with his mother, has two children and is pursuing a psychology degree at City Colleges of Chicago Kennedy-King.
