Another August arrest for an alleged rape inside a parked car

For the second time in August, Wilmette police have arrested a man for an alleged rape that occurred at a Wilmette park.

On Aug. 21, police apprehended Kenny M. Olatunji, 60, of the 900 block of N. Lakeview Drive in Vernon Hills, more than 10 months after he allegedly raped a woman in a car parked at Hibbard Park, 3000 Glenview Road.

Olatunji is charged with criminal sexual assault.

The arrest came a week after Wilmette police arrested a Chicago man for an alleged rape on June 5 inside of a car parked at Howard Park, 830 17th St..

Wilmette Cmdr. Alex Mercado said the incidents are unrelated and it is unusual how the arrests occurred in such a close timeframe.

“(Crimes) like these do get reported, but it is very infrequent,” Mercado said. “… I wouldn’t say we’ve taken a lot of these and to have two that are so similar is quite a rarity.”

As was with the previous case, the alleged offender and the survivor connected through an online dating app, according to Mercado. He said that the two met for a meal on Oct. 6 in nearby Skokie before driving together to Hibbard Park for a walk. Afterward, they reportedly were in a car when the assault occurred.

A hospital nurse who helped treat the survivor reported the alleged rape to Wilmette police, Mercado said.

The investigation, he said, included forensic review of cellphones, medical test results, court orders and DNA testing, among other elements.

The alleged rapes happened eight months apart (October 7, 2024, and June 5, 2025, respectively)

According to WPD’s annual reports, the department investigated “criminal sexual assault” between one and three times every year between 2013-2021.

More recent annual reports show that the department took 11 reports of sex crimes — a wider category that includes several sex-related criminal offenses — in 2022 and 12 reports of sex crimes in 2023.

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