Robert L. Cook, 28, known for his repeated offenses against women and girls on the CTA, was sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday after admitting guilt in three different cases, court documents reveal. Upon his release, he must register as a lifelong sex offender.
Cook’s criminal actions on Chicago’s train lines can be traced back to November 2017. During that time, prosecutors accused him of assaulting a 15-year-old girl and a 23-year-old woman on the Red Line in the Loop. According to a Chicago police report, CTA footage depicted Cook using his large frame to trap the victims in their seats, pressing against them, and wrapping his legs around theirs while grinding his private parts against their bodies.
The police report indicated that Cook, breathing heavily and moaning, questioned the victims about their enjoyment of his actions. The younger victim, a student at Whitney Young Magnet School, was under 17, a fact Cook allegedly knew. He later admitted to two counts of kidnapping and was sentenced to six years in prison.
In May 2024, the Chicago police issued a public warning following an incident where a man reportedly attacked a woman who declined to give him change on the State-Lake Red Line platform in the Loop. Cook was apprehended two days later on the Jackson Red Line platform to face charges related to the case.
A man threatened to physically harm a woman after she told him to stop touching her at the Brown Line stop of Washington and Wabash. pic.twitter.com/PQQE0QWZXa
— Goofies Of Chicago (@Chicago_Goofies) March 21, 2025
The arrest report stated that Cook asked a woman in Streeterville for money and kicked her when she ignored him. He then returned and punched her, resulting in a bloody lip and bruised face.
During a court session under Kim Foxx as Cook County State’s Attorney, prosecutors chose not to request that Judge David Kelly detain Cook, according to records. Kelly, known for his leniency in the court’s pretrial division, released Cook without requiring an ankle monitor.
While the case was still pending in April 2025, prosecutors accused Cook of further assaults on women on the train lines. On March 18, 2025, he reportedly sat next to a woman on a Brown Line train in the Loop, put his legs over hers, and asked if she enjoyed sitting next to him. The woman recorded part of the incident, which included strong language. In another case, Cook was accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl.
By the time Cook returned to court, Eileen O’Neill Burke had replaced Foxx, and her administration required prosecutors to seek detention for those accused of violent crimes on the CTA. Cook has remained in county jail since then.
Between 2024 and 2025, Cook was involved in five cases. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to three cases from 2025, leading to the dismissal of the other two. Judge Michael Pattarozzi sentenced Cook to nine years in each of the three cases, to be served concurrently, and mandated mental health treatment. Cook may receive a 50% sentence reduction for good behavior.
Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
