A 21-year-old Southwest Side man was arrested over the weekend in connection with four sexual assaults committed at knife point since late January, Wentworth Area police said Sunday.
Quantrell Blackman is being held for attacks on female students ages 11 to 21 that occurred from Jan. 20 to March 15, authorities said.
Blackman was charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, one count of armed robbery and one count of predatory sexual assault, police said.
Authorities declined to give precise addresses of the assaults, but said they all occurred within the Gresham and Chicago Lawn police districts.
Police did not provide an address for Blackman, saying only that he lives in the vicinity of the attacks.
He has an “extensive criminal history” and has spent time in prison, according to Wentworth Cmdr. Frank Trigg.
All the victims are students who were confronted on the street and taken to secluded locations where they were assaulted, Trigg said.
In community alerts issued Feb. 15 and March 13, authorities said a 17-year-old victim was abducted while waiting for a bus and an 11-year-old victim was assaulted in an alley.
Trigg said Blackman has given a written confession for the crimes and that DNA tests are pending.
Blackman was arrested Saturday afternoon near the site of the attacks, when two police officers recognized him from composite sketches.
Police have recovered a knife from Blackman, but Trigg said investigators were still trying to determine if it was the same weapon used in any of the attacks.
