In October 2017, a man kidnapped a 13-year-old girl at gunpoint while she walked to school in Gresham and repeatedly raped, Cook County prosecutors said in court this week.
Four months later, prosecutors say the same man approached an 18-year-old woman at a bus stop a mile away and raped her at gunpoint in a nearby alley.
But it wasn’t until March 2018 that 29-year-old Avantay Dorsey was finally taken into custody, authorities said, when he was spotted with red dye on his hands shortly after robbing a Far South Side bank.
Despite the arrest, it would take nearly a year for DNA evidence to link Dorsey to the 13-year-old’s attack — and nearly another year to charge him, prosecutors said earlier this week when Dorsey appeared for a hearing in that case on felony counts of kidnapping and criminal sexual assault.
After his arrest, Dorsey was ordered held in federal custody. He is now being held without bail in connection with both alleged assaults.
About 7 a.m. on the morning of the 2017 attack, the 13-year-old was walking to school in the 8600 block of South Halsted Street when Dorsey pulled up to her in a gray SUV and offered her a ride, according to prosecutors.
When the girl refused, Dorsey took out a black handgun and pointed it at her while demanding she get into his SUV, prosecutors said, accusing him of driving away and raping her at two separate locations before dropping her off again near her school.
Four months later, Chicago police said Dorsey approached an 18-year-old woman at 5 a.m on Feb. 22, 2018 while she was at a bus stop in the 9500 block of South Halsted, forced her into an alley at gunpoint and raped her.
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Then, on March 27, 2018, Dorsey implied he had a gun and held up a teller at a TCF Bank branch inside a Jewel-Osco at 11730 S. Marshfield Ave. for $488, according to a spokeswoman for the FBI.
The teller included a dye pack with the money, which exploded when he fled and caused Dorsey to drop “a large amount of cash,” according to federal court records.
Chicago police officers on patrol spotted Dorsey near 113th Street and Racine Avenue, about a mile away from the bank, according to court records. They took him into custody when they noticed he matched the robber’s description and saw red dye on his hands and pants.
In July 2018, while facing the federal bank robbery charge, Dorsey was indicted on charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault in the attack on the 18-year-old woman, court records show.
Dorsey has pleaded not guilty in that case, which is still pending.
Dorsey was ultimately sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for the bank robbery in August 2018, according to authorities. Dorsey has previous convictions for residential burglary and unlawful use of a weapon, court records show.
In February last year, DNA from the girl’s sexual assault kit was analyzed and matched to Dorsey, prosecutors said, leading to the most recent charges against him when the girl also identified him a photo array.
An assistant public defender for Dorsey said he was a high school graduate who had completed some college, is a lifelong resident of Chicago and previously worked as a forklift operator.
In addition to denying bail for Dorsey, Judge Mary Marubio ordered that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18.
