May 18--A 27-year-old Hermosa neighborhood man struck up a two-month relationship on Facebook with an 11-year-old girl, then arranged to bring her to his house, where he gave her beer and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Erik Coquet, who prosecutors say repeatedly assaulted the girl May 8 at his home in the 1800 block of North Keeler Avenue, was ordered held in lieu of $750,000 bail in a hearing midday Wednesday before Cook County Judge James Brown. Coquet is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under age 13.
Coquet and the girl started communicating on Facebook messenger in early March, and then started sending text messages about meeting each other, prosecutors said Wednesday.
After "constant communication" through Facebook messenger, the two met not long after midnight May 8, prosecutors said. Coquet picked up the girl near Pulaski Road and Fullerton Avenue and drove her to his house, where he gave the girl a beer and then repeatedly sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said.
The girl's mother reported her missing to Chicago police the morning of May 8, and her mother and sister both repeatedly called the girl throughout the day but got no response.
The girl woke up that afternoon in Coquet's bed, and he dropped her off near the 45th Street border between Stickney and Berwyn.
Finally, about 11 p.m., the girl's sister called her and she answered, prosecutors said. The girl told her sister she was near 45th and Harlem and the sister went to pick her up. When the sister arrived, the girl told her that she was in pain, and the sister immediately called 911, prosecutors said.
The girl was taken to Lurie Children's Hospital, where she was examined and found to have signs of having been sexually assaulted, according to prosecutors. Chicago police detectives examined the girl's cellphone and Facebook account, saw sexually explicit messages between the girl and Coquet, and found Coquet's home address.
The girl told investigators what had happened, prosecutors said.
When Coquet was arrested and read his rights, he admitted in a recorded confession to having sex with the girl, prosecutors said.
Coquet, who court records show also as Eric Koquet or Eric Coquet, was ordered not to have contact with the victim or her family members, or anyone else under age 18. Coquet has no prior convictions, according to prosecutors, but court records show he has been arrested twice previously on domestic battery charges.
Chicago Tribune's Steve Schmadeke contributed.
