Authorities use DNA evidence to arrest McLean County date rape suspect

Posted on April 15, 2021
William Beasley, 27, of Bloomington. (Photo courtesy: McLean County Jail)

By Heart of Illinois ABC

BLOOMINGTON – McLean County prosecutors revealed police used DNA to track down the suspect in a 2019 date rape near the Twin-Cities.

A judge on Wednesday ordered William Beasley, 27, held on $200,000 bond, meaning he has to post $20,000 cash to be released from the McLean County Jail.

Beasley faces four sexual assault charges, including two Class X felonies that carry maximum sentences of 30 years in prison if he’s convicted.

Beasley is also charged with aggravated battery for allegedly causing the victim without her consent to ingest GHB, also known as the date rape drug.

He’s accused of sexually assaulting the woman in her car after the vehicle got stuck in the mud in Bloomington Township, just southwest of the city, in April 2019.

In court, a prosecutor said the woman also drank alcohol and passed out in her car. She went to the hospital the next day.

The prosecutor said tests showed a high probability that Beasley’s DNA was found on the woman’s body.

Beasley is ordered not to contact the woman if he’s released on bond.

His next court date is May 7.

Heart of Illinois ABC be reached at [email protected]. 

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