A teacher and several classmates witnessed a seven-year-old’s sexual assault during a break from an online class, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Catrell A. Walls, 18, was arrested last Thursday after a teacher reported seeing him molest one of her students during a break from their regular e-learning sessions, the Chicago Tribune reported. On such breaks, the students were expected to turn off their cameras and mute their microphones. (RELATED: Mother Of 5-Year-Old Girl Files Lawsuit After Daughter Is Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Multiple Times On School Bus)
The seven-year-old victim had muted her feed during the break but had not turned off her camera, and the teacher saw Walls enter the room and the two began to perform oral sex. Several other students also witnessed the incident, asking what was happening, and the teacher instructed them to log out of the classroom.
The teacher then said she called out the victim’s name directly, instructing her to turn off her camera as well. Someone closed the computer at that point, but the teacher quickly called the police, the school principal and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Walls reportedly broke down in tears at the time of his arrest, saying that he did not know why he had done it, according to ABC7 Chicago.
An 18-year-old Chicago man has been charged in the alleged sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl during online learning in West Chesterfield. https://t.co/z1Dh2JFUoI
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) October 18, 2020
According to Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Andreana Turano, this was not the first time Walls had molested the victim. “The victim disclosed ‘he made me put my lips on (him) and this has happened before, and I don’t want my daddy to know, it’s a secret.'”
Turano said that Walls showed “wanton callousness for human life.” He is being held without bond because he was already on bail for a felony gun charge.