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$100K Bond For Ex-Bus Driver Charged With Raping Disabled Woman

CHICAGO (STMW) - Bond has been set at $100,000 for a former Pace bus driver who, after befriending a passenger who suffered from a disabling brain injury, allegedly raped her at her Northwest Side home last fall.

Samuel Rivera, 43, was charged Thursday night with one count of criminal sexual assault, police said. At a hearing on Friday, bond was set at $100,000, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

The attack occurred Nov. 27, 2010, when Rivera allegedly went to the victim's home on the Northwest Side and sexually assaulted her, knowing she did not have the mental capacity to consent, according to a police report.

Rivera had befriended the woman, a brain injury patient whom he drove by Pace bus to the Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse in the 300 block of North Elizabeth Street, according to the report.

Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot said Rivera was an employee of MV Transportation, which was contracted by Pace. He was pulled from service on Nov. 27 following a complaint and has not worked for Pace since, he said.

Police were called to the Elizabeth Street address on Dec. 1 and notified of the rape. Rivera was arrested at 9 a.m. Wednesday at his home.

His next court date is scheduled for Monday at the Cook County Courthouse at 26th and California, according to the sheriff's office.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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