A mentally ill man was sentenced to 28 years in prison Tuesday for attacking and repeatedly raping his 54-year-old neighbor recovering from knee surgery in suburban West Chicago.
On Sept. 21, 2008, Salvador Alvarado allegedly spotted the victim sleeping on her couch when he decided to sneak through an open back door, according to the Daily Herald. Prosecutors said that Alvarado viewed pornography on the victim's computer for 20 to 30 minutes before the attack.
The Daily Herald explains what happened next:
O'Hallaren said Alvarado threw the victim to the floor, injuring her back, and repeatedly assaulted her while muffling her screams. Afterward, he carried her to her bed, apologized and asked to be her boyfriend.
Alvarado has a history of mental illness, according to the Chicago Tribune. After the attack, the victim asked him to return the next day in hopes that police would apprehend him. He, however, had a friend take him to Elgin Mental Health Center that day because he was contemplating suicide, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said that when he was released from the mental health facility on October 8, 2008, he went back to the home because "he wanted to apologize and to see if [the victim] would have sex with him," according to the Tribune.
The victim, traumatized by the attack, had left the home, but a neighbor saw him peering through the window and called police.
“I hope the lady will be able to understand and comprehend and forgive me in the future,” Alvarado said in court through a Spanish interpreter Tuesday, according to the Daily Herald. “I understand it is a crime that is very humiliating.”
Though Alvarado struggled with mental illness, prosecutors said he was aware of what he was doing. He had also been sexually abused as a child.
“He is incapable of rehabilitation," prosecutor Ann Celine O’Hallaren said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "He cannot control himself."
Alvarado must serve 85 percent of the sentence, or about 22 1/2 years, according to the Tribune. He will likely be deported to Mexico upon his release, since he is not a legal U.S. citizen.