A man accused of raping a Chicago school girl and beating her so badly she was left with brain injuries walked free on two prior sexual assault charges, court records show.
Luis Pantoja, 25, faced felony charges of raping a young woman on the Northwest Side in August.
Two years prior, a misdemeanor domestic battery charge after a relative accused Patoja of fondling her, molesting her and showing her pornographic images, the Tribune reports. Charges were ultimately dismissed in both cases.
“They didn’t take her side of the story into account," said a woman who identified herself to CBS Chicago as the aunt of victim from the alleged August attack. "The judge believed him more. He said my niece was his girlfriend and that was a lie."
Judge Laura Marie Sullivan tossed the case out saying there was "no probable cause" a crime had been committed, ABC Chicago reports. Court transcripts indicate the judge never gave an explanation of her decision, according to ABC.
Multiple reports indicate the victim was not a fluent English speaker and was never provided an interpreter in court.
Meanwhile, the teen victim from the Dec. 17 attack in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood is "just learning to feed herself and how to walk" though "her prognosis is uncertain," prosecutors said according to DNAinfo Chicago. She remains at a rehabilitation center.
Prosecutors say DNA evidence including a condom left at the scene and bloody clothes link Pantoja, who is deaf and mute, to the most recent attack. Pantoja is being held on $2.5 million bond.
The aunt of the victim from the August case told CBS she hopes Pantoja “gets a punishment ... where he doesn’t come out, because people like that, never change.”
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