Man gets 20 years after DNA match leads to conviction for 2006 sexual assault

A man who abducted and sexually assaulted a woman as she walked home from work in the West Side North Lawndale neighborhood in 2006 was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday.

Valen Little, 49, was not charged for almost eight years until his DNA was found to match evidence from the crime scene, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

He was convicted of two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault in connection, and on Thursday, Judge Domenica Stephenson sentenced him to 20 years, according to prosecutors.

The 32-year-old victim was the manager of a fast food restaurant and was just leaving after working the night shift on April 26, 2006, prosecutors said in court. As she walked home near the 3700 block of West Ogden, Little “stopped his car, indicated that he had a weapon and forced the victim inside the car,” a statement from prosecutors said.

“The defendant drove the victim to a secluded location, where he threatened to shoot her, and sexually assaulted her. After the attack, Little released the woman and she ran into a nearby business where employees called police,” prosecutors said.

The woman was taken to the hospital and a sexual assault kit was performed. And in 2014, Little was charged “after he was arrested for an unrelated crime and his DNA profile was matched to evidence from the victim’s sexual assault kit,” prosecutors said.