Prosecutors Say Rapist Told Victim to Stop Praying

Prosecutors say an Indiana man accused of back-to-back sexual assaults in Chicago threatened to kill one of his victims unless the 14-year-old girl stopped praying during the assault.

Twenty-six-year-old Terrell Rush of Lafayette, Ind., has been charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon.

The Oct. 9 attacks took place over about four hours and blocks apart in the South Side Washington Heights neighborhood.

In one attack, prosecutors say, Rush came up behind a 14-year-old with a knife as she walked to a bus stop.

An assistant state's attorney said in court Saturday that the girl began praying when he assaulted her.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rush's public defender told the court he has one previous felony arrest for possession of a controlled substance.