Crime & Law

‘This Was a Predator’: Man Charged in Sexual Assaults of 5 Women Over 3 Years on Chicago’s North Side

A Chicago man who authorities say was “hunting for victims” now faces more than a dozen felony charges after he was arrested in connection to the sexual assaults of five women over nearly three years on the city’s North Side.

Chicago police on Monday announced the charges against 36-year-old Chakib Mansour Khodja, who faces 18 total counts including aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated kidnapping, unlawful restraint, attempted aggravated battery and attempted home invasion.

Those stem from five separate incidents that occurred between May 2022 and February 2025, according to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling.

“These women survived something that was horrible and terrible,” Snelling said at a news conference Monday. “It’s something they will continue to live with throughout the rest of their days. Although this offender is in custody, we know there is still a long road for the women as these cases are prosecuted.”

Authorities shared the dates and locations of Khodja’s alleged attacks:

• May 7, 2022: 2000 block of N. Humboldt Blvd., involving a 36-year-old woman
• July 15, 2022: 800 block of W. Wellington Ave., involving a 21-year-old woman
• Jan. 18, 2025: 2800 block of N. Bloomingdale Ave., involving a 36-year-old woman
• Jan. 22, 2025: 2800 block of N. Central Park Ave., involving a 21-year-old woman
• Feb. 2, 2025: 2600 block of N. Troy St., involving a 21-year-old woman

Investigators recovered both DNA and video evidence tying Khodja to these attacks, police said, and tracked down a vehicle that eventually helped identify him. Khodja was arrested last Friday at O’Hare Airport as he returned to Chicago.

A judge ordered Khodja be detained pending trial at a hearing Monday. Cook County prosecutors detailed some of the incidents in proffers presented during that hearing.

In the February 2025 incident, the victim was returning home and had just walked into her apartment building’s foyer, when she realized she’d accidently left her keys in the door behind her, according to a proffer from the State’s Attorney’s Office.

When she turned around, Khodja was allegedly standing behind her. According to the proffer, he was wearing a mask and pressed a knife to her throat before he sexually assaulted her and then fled, the proffer states. Prosecutors said DNA recovered from that scene was matched to DNA from other cases already under investigation.

In the Jan. 18, 2025, incident, the victim was walking home when she noticed Khodja walking behind her, according to the proffer. He then allegedly grabbed her and pushed her into a fence before he pulled out a knife, pushed it to the victim’s neck and sexually assaulted her on the sidewalk, according to prosecutors.

In the May 2022 incident, Khodja was allegedly lying in wait for the victim as she returned to her apartment complex. According to the proffer, he pulled a black bag over the woman’s head and began to choke her with his hands before he abruptly stopped and fled the scene.

Khodja allegedly sexually assaulted another victim in the back of a vehicle in July 2022.

Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday described Khodja as a “sick and depraved individual” and said that with his arrest, “we have taken the first step toward justice.”

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, who joined Snelling at Monday’s news conference, called Khodja a “violent serial predator” whom she said “literally went out hunting for his victims.”

“Today the city is safer,” she said. “Today, every single woman in the city, every single man who has a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, should all be breathing a sigh of relief.”

Noting the lengthy gap in time between some of Khodja’s alleged attacks, Snelling said police cannot be sure whether he targeted or assaulted other women over that period. Snelling encouraged any other potential victims to contact the CPD either by calling 1-888-293-2080 or emailing the department’s crime victim services office at [email protected].

“These detectives have been working just ridiculously hard to bring justice to these victims,” Snelling said. “Collecting the evidence, making the case, working along with all the forensics labs, the (Cook County) State’s Attorney’s Office, we were able to get this predator off the street. And trust me — this is a predator.”

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