Chicago girl, 15, beaten, raped on the way to school

A neighborhood group in Chicago demanded additional police presence after a girl, 15, was beaten and sexually assaulted on her way to school. About 140 people attended a meeting Thursday, organized by the non-profit Northwest Side Housing Center. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy received applause when he said, "Were not going to stop until we solve this crime." Many in attendance were critical of the level of police protection in the neighborhood and said the city was not doing enough to prevent crime, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday. The unidentified victim was on her way to her high school in pre-dawn darkness Tuesday when she was struck on the head, dragged to a yard and raped, CNN said. She remains hospitalized in serious condition. The assault occurred a half-block away from one of the city's "Safe Passage" school routes, a program in which certain streets near schools are patrolled at key times by paid, trained workers. Authorities noted the victim walked to school Tuesday a half-hour before the route was staffed with patrols, adding that a resident discovered the girl bleeding in the snow near his home, and that she lay in the cold for about 2 hours before she was found.