Prosecutors say a man sexually assaulted a non-verbal and disabled woman after convincing her to get into his car while she was on a walk to a coffee shop in Hainesville.
Leonardo J. Ivery, 38, of Round Lake, was charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a handicapped victim and one count of unlawful restraint.
Prosecutors said a woman, who suffers from physical and cognitive disabilities that completely prevent her from talking, was on a walk in the late afternoon on May 30, 2022.
The woman communicates through an app on her tablet and through head gestures and writing due to her disease, which is similar to ALS.
The woman was on her way to the Starbucks at Route 120 and Hainesville Road in Hainesville, which she routinely does for exercise to help manage her disease.
Prosecutors said the woman was in the plaza of the Starbucks when an unknown man, later identified as Ivery, approached her while driving a red car.
Ivery asked for the woman’s number and the woman, who did not bring her tablet, looked in her bag for something to write with to tell him that she could not talk, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the victim felt bad for ignoring the man and she sat on the curb and tried writing on her leg with a pen.
Ivery told the woman she was “too beautiful for that” and offered for her to sit in his car while she wrote, prosecutors said.
He opened the passenger door for her and she got in the car. Prosecutors said he closed the door and stopped the woman from writing further.
Prosecutors said Ivery began complimenting the woman’s body and made sexual comments before putting his hands in her pants while penetrating her.
He exposed himself and forced the victim to perform a sex act on him, prosecutors said. The victim was “terrified” and thought the man would kill her.
Prosecutors said Ivery drove around the Starbucks and dropped her off after saying that he remembered he had to work.
The victim walked home and immediately told her husband and a caretaker about what happened. They notified the Grayslake-Hainesville Police Department and an investigation began.
The woman went to the hospital and a sexual assault exam was performed. Prosecutors said DNA was sent to the crime lab which showed DNA from an unknown male.
The lab did not have a DNA profile to compare it to because police had not identified a suspect yet.
Investigators caught a break in the case in late August, over two years after the incident, after the crime lab found an association between the DNA profile and Ivery.
Ivery had pleaded guilty in a felony case in Lake County in July and was required to submit a DNA specimen for indexing as part of the conviction, court records show.
Ivery had been arrested in that case on May 11 and charged with criminal sexual abuse in a case where he grabbed a woman’s sex organ while at a bar in Grayslake, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said that he told the female victim in that case and an eyewitness that he rapes women.
Prosecutors dismissed the criminal sexual abuse charge after allowing Ivery to plead guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated battery and be sentenced to 24 months of probation.
Records show he was not required to register as a sex offender following the conviction.
Ivery was stopped by police on July 29, 2023, while driving a red PT Cruiser, which matched the description a witness provided in the May 2022 sexual assault at the Starbucks.
Ivery was arrested shortly after a warrant was issued for him on September 17. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial.
Prosecutors called Ivery a threat to the safety of vulnerable women in the community.
“The Defendant has shown that he preys on women. The evidence in both cases is indicative of violent, abusive, and assaultive behavior,” prosecutors said.
A detention hearing was held on Tuesday and Ivery waived his right to the hearing, meaning he agreed to be detained in jail while awaiting trial.
The most serious charges against Ivery are Class X felonies, which carry up to 30 years in prison.