Man charged with sexually assaulting, robbing woman he followed from Rogers Park CTA station

A 23-year-old man was ordered held without bond Friday for allegedly raping and robbing a woman he followed home from a CTA Red Line station in Rogers Park last month.

After the alleged sexual assault, Borbor Sesay fled to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he has relatives but he was extradited back to Cook County this week to face the charges.

During his bond hearing Friday, Sesay appeared to try to make a statement and attempted to leave the courtroom to go back to a holding area before he was stopped by sheriff’s deputies, who cuffed his hands behind his back.

Judge Susana Ortiz told Sesay to let an assistant public defender speak on his behalf. Sesay answered “Yes, ma’am.”

Prosecutors said Sesay was captured on video by security cameras and police POD cameras as he followed the 26-year-old woman when she got off a CTA Red Line train July 9 and walked home.

At the vestibule of her apartment building, Sesay allegedly grabbed the woman over her clothes. When she asked him to leave, Sesay at first appeared to walk away. But as the woman used her security card to unlock a door to the building’s lobby, he turned around and forced himself inside with her, prosecutors said.

Sesay pushed the woman into a stairway, where she fought with him as he punched her, tore her clothes and sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said. During the alleged sexual assault, Sesay demanded money from the woman. The victim gave him $120, and he continued to assault her, prosecutors said.

When Sesay left the building, the woman went to her apartment and sought help from her boyfriend. She was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston for treatment, and a sexual assault kit was administered.

Investigators were able to track Sesay using CTA security footage and were able to identify him through his CTA card. After the images were released to the public, Sesay was also identified by a staff member with Mercy Home for Boys, where Sesay used to live, and by an employee at a business where Sesay had an internship.

Prosecutors said Sesay admitted to the assault and robbery while in custody in Michigan.

Sesay’s attorney said he is enrolled at a college and works at a Mexican restaurant and as a housekeeper at a hotel.

After the hearing, when Sesay was being led away from the courtroom, he told his attorney, “You did a good job.”

Sesay’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 29.