Man who raped 11-year-old girl at library had bothered women there 7 times previously, prosecutors say

A 25-year-old man was denied bail Wednesday on charges he sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl who was studying at a public library while her mother was at a nearby laundromat in Morgan Park.

Damond Hampton, who had been banned from the library after “bothering” women there several times since May, faced three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault when he appeared for the hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Meanwhile, the security guard working when the incident took place was fired, city officials said.

“The Department of Fleet and Facility Management is committed to providing the highest standard of security services on City property and is deeply troubled by the incident that took place at Walker Library,” a department spokesman said in an email. “In this particular case, the security guard failed to follow their security company’s protocol, and as a result has been terminated.”

Chicago police said the assault happened Monday afternoon at the Chicago Public Library’s Morgan Park branch at 11071 S. Hoyne Ave.

Prosecutors said the girl had gone to the library about 4 p.m. to do homework while her mother was doing laundry. City officials said the assault happened in a corner room in the adult section of the library and was not captured by video surveillance.

While the girl was sitting at a table doing her work, Hampton allegedly came up to her and began asking questions, which she refused to answer. Hampton then gave the girl his phone number, which she put in her backpack, prosecutors said.

When Hampton asked the girl to perform a sex act, she refused, prosecutors said. He then exposed himself and sexually assaulted the girl, who tried to escape, prosecutors said.

Chicago police arrest photo

When the girl’s mother entered the library, the girl ran to her and told her what had happened. She provided a description of Hampton to a library employee, who confirmed Hampton’s identity through his library card and also knew Hampton from previous incidents at the library, prosecutors said.

A police spokeswoman said Hampton had been banned from the branch prior to the assault due to “his inappropriate behavior with female library patrons.” Prosecutors said Hampton had been accused of “staring at and bothering women” at least seven times since May.

Hampton was arrested an hour later about a block from the library, police said.

Cook County prosecutors said Hampton made numerous, lewd admissions about the assault while in custody, including that he thought she was 15 or 16 years old.

“No, I did not,” Hampton said loudly when Judge Arthur Wesley Willis recounted Hampton’s alleged statements in court. An assistant public defender for Hampton then told him not to speak further.

Following the hearing, prosecutors said that Hampton’s statements were recorded on video.

Hampton’s public defender said he was a lifelong resident of Morgan Park and had no prior criminal background. The public defender said Hampton denied the allegations and that prosecutors had not provided any corroborating evidence, calling the previous complaints about Hampton at the library “vague allegations” and “hearsay.”

Judge Willis said he found Hampton’s own alleged statements about the assault a convincing reason to hold him without bail and set his next court date for Jan. 6.