Man may plead to rape

October 23, 2007
BY KIM JANSSEN Staff writer
Polish immigrant accused of sexually assaulting daughter-in-law's friend

A man accused of sexually assaulting a daughter-in-law's friend while she slept at an Oak Lawn house party is considering a plea deal, his attorney said Monday.

Polish-born Tadeusz Slusarz, 57, was arrested in August 1999 when his daughter-in-law walked in on him while he performed a sex act on her friend in an upstairs bedroom at his home in the 8900 block of South 49th Avenue, prosecutors allege.

The victim was 20 at the time of the attack and had been invited to stay by Slusarz's daughter-in-law, state's attorney spokesman Andy Conklin said.

Charged with criminal sexual assault and attempted criminal sexual assault, Slusarz skipped bail days after he was charged and spent seven years on the run in Poland.

An international police effort led by the FBI eventually saw him arrested by Polish police earlier this year and brought back to the United States, Oak Lawn police Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said.

DNA evidence from the scene linked Slusarz to the crime, Kaufmann said.

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Deno, Slusarz and his attorney, John Eannace, spent nearly an hour discussing the case in private with Judge David Sterba at the Bridgeview courthouse Monday.

Dressed in a khaki jail-issued jumpsuit, with grey hair and a slight stoop, Slusarz indicated through an interpreter he needed time to consider the plea deal.

"He needs to discuss your recommendation with me and his family," Eannace told Sterba.

Sterba gave Slusarz until Nov. 27 to decide whether to take the deal.

If convicted at trial, Slusarz faces between four and 15 years behind bars.

Kim Janssen can be contacted at kjanssen@dailysouthtown.com or at(70 633-5998.

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