University of Illinois - Chicago Student Charged With Sexual Assault; Called it a '50 Shades' Reenactment
ByA student arrested for aggravated sexual assault argued that he was reenacting sexual acts from the novel-series-turned-film "50 Shades of Grey."
According to the Chicago Tribune, Mohammad Hossain was charged Monday and a Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. set the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) student's bail at $500,000. Cook County prosecutors argued that Hossain, 19, and the female student, also 19, were recreating scenes from the story, which includes vivid depictions of sadist and masochistic sexual acts.
Assistant Cook County public defender Sandra Bennewitz told the judge her client was a leader at UIC as a student ambassador to the alumni association and a member of the triathlon team. That reportedly took the judge by surprise, the Tribune reported.
"Sandra, how can someone involved in all that let a movie persuade him to do something like this?" he said.
To which Bennewitz said, her client "would say that it was consensual."
The alleged assault took place Saturday, Feb. 21 around 5:30 p.m. in a dorm room in Chicago. Assistant State Attorney Sarah Karr said the two had a romantic history but were not an item.
Karr outlined the allegations in court, the Tribune reported, which included bounding the complainant's hands and feet with belts and stuffing a tie in her throat. While reportedly pleading with Hossain to stop, the alleged victim was able to get free, but Hossain grabbed her and continued the assault.
The young woman told someone else about the assault and then reported it to the police, the Tribune reported.
USA Today College pointed out that Hossain posted a message on his Facebook page after the alleged incident took place, reading: "I'm finally satisfied."
Suzaine Suba, a high school classmate of Hossain's, told USA Today the grisly allegations against him seemed wildly out of character.
"I remember the time when Hossain told me his experience with being bullied in school... he was just one of those individuals who struggled to fit into society," Suba said. "I'm still trying to understand why he did what he did."