Bail set at $750,000 for Hoffman Estates man charged in sexual assault

Bail was set at $750,000 Friday afternoon for a Hoffman Estates man accused of breaking into a Hoffman Estates woman's locked bedroom and sexually assaulting her.

Ronald F. Smith, 39, has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, a class X felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Smith brought with him a roll of duct tape and a pocket knife that he used to enter the woman's room about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The woman asked if Smith was going to hurt her, he said 'yes' and attempted to duct tape her wrists to the headboard but was unsuccessful, said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney David Shin.

Police say Smith then forced her at knife point to perform a sexual act. In a statement to police, Smith said he believed the were soulmates and that if he persisted, she would acquiesce, Shin said.

Smith has a prior criminal background that includes a 1998 conviction in Connecticut for assault and battery for which he received a 20-year sentence, which also included a concurrent 5-year sentence for assault. He served 10 years followed by five years of probation, prosecutors said.

He received nine months in jail and 24 months probation for a 1996 breaking and entering conviction in Michigan, prosecutors said. He also has four misdemeanors, including a 2010 Connecticut conviction for disorderly conduct, for which he was sentenced to two months in jail, and a 2008 evading police conviction in the same state. He also received two years misdemeanor probation for threatening behavior in 1997, but violated that probation and was sentenced to one year in jail, Shin said.

Smith next appears in court on April 30.