A city staffer who works as a timekeeper for the Chicago Police Department was ordered held in jail Thursday after he was charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he allegedly met on a dating app for teenagers.
Cook County prosecutors said Oswaldo Lorenzana de La Rosa was “relentless” in pursuing the girl and abused her for months after lying about his age to contact minors on the dating app.
Lorenzana de La Rosa, 30, was arrested Tuesday in Albany Park after trying to break into her home, prosecutors said. He works as a police timekeeper for the Office of Public Safety Administration, earning a $61,548 annual salary, city records show.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge D’Anthony Thedford ordered Lorenzana de la Rosa held at the Cook County Jail, calling him “a danger to the community.”
Lorenzana de la Rosa, who is married, began exchanging messages with the girl in February, according to prosecutors, who said he told the girl he was 23 and went by “Javier.”
When they discussed her age, Lorenzana de la Rosa told the girl that he “didn’t care if she was 14 — if she didn’t care,” prosecutors said.
They met in person in March, when he picked her up from school and drove her to his home in Belmont Cragin, prosecutors said. That day, Lorenzana de la Rosa allegedly gave her drugs and alcohol and sexually assaulted her.
He then picked her up from school every Thursday and sexually assaulted her for weeks, prosecutors said.
Later, the girl’s mother became concerned about her mental health and hired a caregiver to stay at the home full time while she was at work, prosecutors said.
When Lorenzana de la Rosa learned that he could no longer pick the girl from school, he began to help her sneak out of her home at night when her mother was sleeping, prosecutors said. Then, he would drop her off in the early morning.
Prosecutors said Lorenzana de la Rosa gave the girl gifts, alcohol and marijuana each time they met. At one point, he strangled her during an assault, leaving bruises that would last for days, prosecutors said.
The girl’s mother became suspicious when she realized her daughter would leave home at night and return the next day smelling of alcohol, prosecutors said.
In July, the girl’s grandfather saw Lorenzana de la Rosa drop her off at home, prosecutors said. The grandfather followed Lorenzana de la Rosa and confronted him, but Lorenzana de la Rosa allegedly lied and said he was a ride-hailing driver.
That same month, the girl’s mother received a text from a friend containing screenshots of messages about the girl’s relationship with Lorenzana de la Rosa, prosecutors said. The following day, the girl swallowed her grandmother’s antidepressants and muscle relaxers in an attempt to end her life.
The girl was hospitalized and later admitted to a mental health facility, according to prosecutors, who said Lorenzana de la Rosa anonymously sent her flowers while she was receiving treatment.
The girl ultimately told her mother about her relationship with Lorenzana de la Rosa, prosecutors said. Then, on Aug. 19, the girl’s mother went to the police department’s Albany Park District and reported the alleged abuse.
After she was released from the mental health facility, the girl was admitted to an outpatient program and would see a counselor after school, prosecutors said. Lorenzana de la Rosa allegedly hid a “burner phone” inside a tissue box that he left outside the counselor’s office for the girl.
He continued to sneak her out of the girl’s home to meet him, bringing ladders to help her climb out of her second story window, prosecutors said.
But the girl’s mother installed home security cameras, which captured Lorenzana de la Rosa setting up a ladder outside the girl’s window, prosecutors said. The mother called police as her daughter messaged Lorenzana de la Rosa and asked him to return to the home.
Lorenzana de la Rosa was then arrested during a foot pursuit, prosecutors said. He was charged with felony counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, traveling to meet a minor, indecent solicitation of a child and grooming.