Police: Sex offender lied to force his way into Elgin apartment
This article has been updated with additonal information from Elgin police that Onofre lied about his revenge story and there was no evidence the woman's husband was having an affair or that Onofre was even married.
A sex offender charged with attacking an Elgin woman on Nov. 20 knocked on her apartment door, lied about her husband having an affair, and then pushed his way into her home and sexually assaulted her while her 4-year-old son was home, according to court records and police.
Authorities arrested Anthony G. Onofre after the victim's detailed description and security video from a nearby hair salon matched his information on the police department's sex offender list; they now have obtained a warrant for a DNA swab, according to an affidavit in Kane County court records.
Onofre, 25, of the 0-99 block of South Union Street, Elgin, is charged with felony home invasion and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a woman.
If convicted of the most severe charges, Onofre could face an extended sentence of up to 60 years in prison because of the nature of the crime and his criminal history, which includes a 2014 conviction in Cook County for attempted criminal sexual assault with bodily harm.
According to the affidavit, the victim said a man came to the rear door of her apartment and made a claim about an affair, saying he wanted to do to the woman what the woman's husband supposedly did with the man's wife.
"It was a made-up story," Elgin Police Cmdr. Colin Fleury said.
Neither the victim nor her husband had ever seen Onofre before, and police had no evidence that the husband was having an affair or that Onofre was even married, Fleury said.
"He then pushed his way into the house with his shoulder, defeating the victim's attempt to close the door," an Elgin officer wrote in an affidavit used to secure the search warrant for Onofre's DNA.
Once inside, the man sexually assaulted the woman while her toddler son was home, stole her cellphone and threatened to send her photos to everyone he knew as well as members of his gang, according to the affidavit.
After the attack, the man drove away; the woman called police at 9:24 a.m., providing a detailed description down to his trimmed eyebrows and full beard, "which was short and 'lined up,'" according to the affidavit.
The responding officer "immediately recognized" the suspect as Anthony Onofre based on the description on the department's sex offender list and security video from the hair salon that recorded him driving off in a tan 2004 Jeep Liberty, according to the affidavit.
The Illinois State Police database has Onofre listed as a sexual predator due to the 2014 offense in Cook County, for which he was sentenced to four years in prison, according to an Elgin police report.
Onofre was brought to the station for questioning, where he denied any involvement and added that he had made enemies in prison and a rival gang was trying to frame him, according to the affidavit.
Onofre is being held at the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail, meaning he must post $50,000 to be released while the case is pending. He is next due in court on Dec. 5.