Monroe Akins charged in Park Forest, Richton Park sex assaults

PARK FOREST, Ill. (WLS) -- Monroe Akins faces nine counts of sexual abuse in connection with a string of attacks on women in south suburban Park Forest and Richton Park.

Akins, 37, of Steger, allegedly approached women and groped them in the Richton Park and Park Forest area between March and June. Police said one of the attacks also involved sexual abuse. Some of them took place near schools, and four of the six victims are teens, police said.

"He's been charged with four counts of aggravated battery, three counts of criminal sexual abuse and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse," Deputy Chief Christopher Mannino, Park Forest Police Department.

Viola Nicholson, 44, said she was attacked on her way to the Metra station in April.

"When I walked up the stairs up to the train, that's when I felt my coat hit," Nicholson told ABC7 Eyewitness News in an exclusive interview. "I felt it again hit twice, then I felt a grab, when I turned around I saw him right behind me."

Nicholson immediately went to police, she said.

"I knew he was going to attack more women or the high school students, that's when I really became concerned," she said.

Akins was identified by victims in a line-up in each of the six cases, police said.

Nicholson warned other women to stay alert.

"Pay attention. Don't be on my phone when I'm walking, because I do. I'm texting, I'm doing work as I go," she said.

Akins is being held on a $750,000 bail and is due back in court Tuesday morning.