Dolton Man Charged With Sexual Assault Of 7-Year-Old Girl In Glenview

SKOKIE, IL — A south suburban man accused of violently sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl he was babysitting last month was ordered held without bail Monday.

Andre Sparkman, 60, of Dolton, was arrested by Cook County sheriff's police Sunday and charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, records show. The three counts relate to separate acts on the same day.

Sparkman was entrusted with babysitting the grandchildren of a friend on Sept. 8 at an apartment building in unincorporated Northfield Township while their mother was out of town, prosecutors said.

According to Assistant State's Attorney Kate Fritzmann, the girl and her younger brother both gave consistent accounts to investigators describing how Sparkman had forcible sexual contact with the girl.

The girl immediately placed a video call to her aunt from the bathroom while Sparkman was putting on his clothes after the assault, Fritzmann said. When he noticed the girl was trying to call her mother, he told her and her brother not to tell anyone.

"[Sparkman] told [the girl] and her siblings that he would not take them swimming if they called their mom," Fritzmann said "[He] then took [her] and her siblings to go swimming at a common area of this apartment complex."

While they were at the pool, the girl's aunt contacted her mother and other family member. When the mother was able to speak with the girl, she told her about assault and her mother immediately had the children picked up and taken to a grandparent's house, the prosecutor said.

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A sexual assault evidence kit was collected Sept. 9 and the investigation was turned over to Cook County sheriff's police, according to Fritzmann. The two siblings were interviewed separately on Sept. 29.

Prosecutors did not specify what, if any, evidence was found in the kit ahead of Sparkman's Oct. 30 arrest.

Sparkman has six felony convictions, including one that led to six years in federal prison after he was charged with a drug trafficking conspiracy in 2007.

According to a filing by his lawyer in that case, Sparkman is a heroin addict who only dealt drugs to support his own drug habit and, following his arrest, cooperated with the government and testified about his knowledge of criminal activity.

After an unsatisfactory end to his federal court supervision, Sparkman was sentenced to a year in state prison for drug possession in 2016. And in 2017, he was convicted of misdemeanor battery for stabbing someone and served 180 days in Cook County Jail.

Predatory criminal sexual assault of a child is a class X felony, with a mandatory minimum sentence of six years per conviction.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese said the accounts of the children, as described by the prosecutor, were compelling, and Sparkman poses a danger to the community as well as the witnesses in the case.

"As I listen to the suggestions presented, and, I believe, in my own experience, that a 7-year-old can be extraordinary and believable and quite able to recount the kinds of conduct that's suggested here," Calabrese said.

"I believe, as a result, that the evidence suggested by the prosecution is strong and the presumption is, in fact, great that [Sparkman] committed these offenses," the judge said, ordering Sparkman to be held without bail.

Sparkman is due back in court Nov. 15 for a preliminary hearing.