Allegations:
D.L., 15, was visiting his aunt's family at her apartment complex when a woman in the building approached him and told him he looked like someone who had molested her daughter a few months earlier. D.L. did not speak English, and did not understand what the woman was saying. His cousin alerted D.L.'s mother, who called the police to clear up the confusion. Officers Okrasinski and Herrera arrived and took D.L. to a police station for questioning without allowing his mother to come. D.L. was held and questioned for 48 hours; during this time he was not allowed to eat, make a phone call or see his family. After repeatedly denying that he had anything to do with the crime, D.L. requested a lie detector test to prove his innocence. D.L. was taken to Officer Bartik, who continued to question him without a polygraph exam. Although D.L. continued to state his innocence, the officers filed a report claiming D.L. had confessed to the crime prior to asking for a polygraph test. The officers began to threaten D.L., telling him he would never see his mother again and he would be raped in Cook County Jail if he did not confess. They gave him a form to sign that was written in English, a language he could not read, speak or write. If D.L. signed the form, the officers said, he could go home. One officer even pretended to call D.L.'s mother, acting out a conversation in which he told her to come pick up D.L. D.L. signed the form, which was a false confession the officers had written. D.L. was taken to Cook County Jail and charged with 26 counts of sexual assault to a minor and other offenses. D.L. had no prior criminal record or any experience with police. The real molester was eventually caught and prosecuted, and all charges against D.L. were dropped.