A man accused of sexually assaulting multiple women in Chicago “went out hunting for victims” in the city until as recently as February, in what police described as a “horrific” series of crimes. Christian Farr reports.
A man accused of sexually assaulting multiple women in Chicago "went out hunting for victims" in the city until as recently as February, in what police described as a "horrific" series of crimes.
Chakib Mansour Khodja, 36, now faces 18 counts in connection with the assaults of at least five women, though police say more victims could be unidentified. The incidents took place between May 2022 and February 2025.
Among the charges are felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated criminal sexual abuse resulting in bodily harm, aggravated kidnapping, attempted home invasion and more.
"The city is safer today. Every single woman in this city, every single man who has a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister should all be breathing a sigh of relief," Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke said. "This man was a violent serial predator who literally went out hunting for his victims. It was only through the dogged police work - they didn't give up. They kept investigating for three years and they found him."
Among the victims were three 21-year-old women and two 36-year-old women.
The incident took place on Chicago's North and Northwest Sides, including in popular neighborhoods like Logan Square, Lakeview and Wicker Park. The confirmed reports include the following locations:
- May 7, 2022: 2000 block of N. Humboldt Blvd. (14th District); 36-year-old female victim
- July 15, 2022: 800 block of W. Wellington (19th District); 21-year-old female victim
- January 18, 2025: 2800 block of N. Bloomingdale (14th District); 36-year-old female victim
- January 22, 2025: 2800 block of N. Central Park (14th District); 21-year-old female victim
- February 2, 2025: 2600 block of N. Troy (14th District); 21-year-old female victim
Police said they worked to find a pattern in each of the cases, used evidence from victims, video footage, DNA processing and more to solve the case. Khodja was arrested Friday at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, where he was returning from out of town, police said.
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"These women survived something that was horrible and terrible, and it's something that they will continue to live with throughout the rest of their days," Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said in a press conference announcing the charges Monday. "Although the offender is in custody, we know there is still a long road for the women as these cases are prosecuted. We stand with the survivor and all survivors of sexual violence and sexual assault."
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In the most recent incident, police said a woman had entered her apartment building, but realized she left her keys in the front door to the foyer. When she turned around to grab them, a masked man was standing in the doorway armed with a knife. He held the knife to her throat as he assaulted her in the apartment entryway. When the victim tried to make noise to alert her roommate, she said he pushed the knife into her throat harder.
When the man left, the victim alerted her roommate and 911 was called. DNA evidence collected from the woman's hand matched DNA recovered in other sexual assault cases being investigated by Chicago police, authorities said.
In the Jan. 18 incident, a woman was walking home from a convenience store when she told police she noticed a man in black following her. The man, who was wearing socks with no shoes and a hood and mask, ultimately grabbed the woman from behind and held a knife to her side as he made her walk to another location before assaulting her on the sidewalk.
The woman said she tried to grab her phone to call for help during the attack, but dropped it, which prompted the man to tell her she shouldn't have done that and then heightened the attack. She also fought her attacker during the assault.
DNA evidence from the woman also matched other cases being investigated by police, authorities said, and video footage captured from the convenience store was used to help identify a vehicle associated with the incidents.
Similarities between the 2025 cases and ones reported in 2022 were noticed as DNA evidence continued to match.
On May 7, 2022, police said a woman was attacked in the entryway to her apartment building.
In this incident, a man was lying in wait and pulled a black drawstring bag over the woman's head, covering her face as he wrapped his hands around her neck. The woman screamed and struggled with the attacker before he released her and ran away. DNA evidence from the bag matched other sexual assault investigations, prosecutors said in a proffer read in court.
Then, police said on July 15, 2022, another woman was walking home from a bar around 3 a.m. The woman had tried to call for a rideshare, but her requests were denied so she began walking home.
On her walk, the woman was offered a ride home by two men. She got into the back seat of the car and provided them with her address.
She fell asleep in the car and woke up as they were pulling over in an unknown location. That's when she told police both men got out of the vehicle and another vehicle approached. The woman heard the men speaking in a language she couldn't understand before a man opened the rear door to the car and began assaulting her.
After the assault, the two men returned to their vehicle, drove the woman a few blocks from her home and left her on the side of the road. The woman managed to make her way home and cried out to a friend, who called 911.
Police said DNA evidence recovered from the woman also matched the other sexual assault cases. Video evidence captured the vehicle that dropped the woman near her home, along with another vehicle that appeared to be following it, which belonged to Khodja, prosecutors said.
Authorities acknowledged the possibility that there could be more victims not yet discovered.
"We can never assume that we have located every victim that this predator has targeted. We would like to know that if there are more victims out there," Snelling said.
He urged anyone in need of assistance to call the 24/7 Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline at (888) 293-2080.
"This is extremely important because we have survivors and people who have been victimized who are still out there and maybe have not told their story or reached out for that," Snelling said. "The Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline is available 24 hours a day and is free and confidential."
