Accused Rapist Lectured Victims About Prostituting Themselves
CHICAGO (STMW) -- After an armed man raped a woman he met online, and her friend, he lectured them about how they shouldn't be prostituting themselves, Cook County prosecutors said.
Jonathan Ferguson, 23, then allegedly boasted to the victims and a third woman that he had killed people earlier that week before he fled with the women's cellphones and purses.
Ferguson, who is charged with armed robbery and aggravated criminal sexual assault with a weapon, was ordered held on $250,000 bail Thursday by Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil.
The three Milwaukee women were in Chicago for the New Year's weekend and were staying at a hotel, according to Assistant State's Attorney Akash Vyas.
Ferguson had answered an ad on backpage.com from one of the women offering sexual services and asked the 22-year-old to come to an address in the 2100 block of East 87th Place, Vyas said.
The woman's friends, who had accompanied her on the ride, stayed in the car and gave her a condom.
Once the 22-year-old woman went inside, Ferguson raped her at gunpoint and forced her to call her friends inside, Vyas said.
Ferguson made the other two women — ages 23 and 30 — dump out their purses on the ground and allegedly took $300 from the oldest victim.
He then made the three women go upstairs and strip naked, Vyas said.
Ferguson ordered two of the women into a closet and raped the 23-year-old after placing a gun at her head, Vyas said.
When he was done with the second sexual assault, Ferguson had the other two women come out of the closet. That's when he allegedly lectured them and boasted about his supposed murderous week.
Ferguson left the women's car keys behind when he ran off with their cellphones and purses, Vyas said.
The women called police from another phone the 30-year-old had left in the car, Vyas said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Ferguson, of the 9700 block of South Merrill Avenue, was arrested this week and identified by two of the victims. He allegedly confessed to police.
