Naperville man charged with sexual assault at DuPage County crisis center

Lonny Bracey
Courtesy of DuPage County Sheriff’s Office

A 34-year-old Naperville man was remanded in custody on Saturday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman at the DuPage County Crisis Center in Wheaton.

Lonny Bracey faces sexual assault charges stemming from an investigation that began late Wednesday when Wheaton police were dispatched to the center at 115 N. County Farm Road to investigate the alleged assault.

According to the charges, the woman was awakened to find herself being sexually assaulted by a man in her bedroom at the center. The center is a 12-bed facility that provides short-term crisis care to DuPage County residents on a voluntary basis, police said.

According to Wheaton police, the man fled the room after an argument and the woman was later taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

Police said their investigation identified Bracey as a suspect and arrested him Thursday morning. He was booked into the DuPage County Jail on Friday and appeared in court on Saturday, where a judge ordered him detained while the case against him is pending.

“The allegations against Mr. Bracey are shocking,” said DuPage County District Attorney Robert Berlin in an announcement of the arrest and indictment. “The violent attack on a patient in her room at a psychiatric residential facility will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Wheaton Police Chief Princeton Youker thanked his police officers, evidence technicians and detectives for the quick arrest.

“They were able to identify and arrest Mr. Bracey for the alleged sexual assault in less than 48 hours,” he said.

Bracey is scheduled to appear in court again on July 16 before Judge Daniel Guerin.