Suspect arrested after 11-year-old girl is sexually assaulted at a Morgan Park library

Police are questioning a suspect after an 11-year-old girl was sexually assaulted Monday afternoon at a public library in Morgan Park on the Far South Side.

The sexual assault happened at the Chicago Public Library’s Walker Branch, 11071 S. Hoyne Ave., officials said.

The girl was left alone by her mother in a corner room about 4 p.m. when a 25-year-old man seated nearby entered and sexually assaulted the girl, Chicago police said.

He ran but was arrested later, police said. The girl was treated at a hospital.

Police said the man was already banned from the library due to “his inappropriate behavior with female library patrons,” a police spokeswoman said in an email. No charges have been filed.

A city official said the library called police on the man before, and that officers told him to stay away from the building for a month.

The official said the assault happened in the adult section of the library in an area not captured by video surveillance.

Chicago Public Library said in a statement that it takes “patron safety very seriously and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement on this matter.”

Multiple city spokespeople could not immediately say if the library was staffed with security at the time, or if anyone has been disciplined.