Roscoe man guilty of rape, kidnapping Rockford woman in 2019

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Matthew Harkey, 46, of Roscoe was found guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, home invasion, and aggravated criminal sexual abuse after a jury trial Thursday.

He previously plead not guilty in the crime.

On March 13, 2019, Harkey broke into the victim’s house in Rockford and waited for her to come home. He then hit her on the head, duct taped a ski mask to her head, forced her into the trunk of her car, and drove her to his mother’s house on McDonald Road in Roscoe.

Harkey took the victim to the basement, handcuffed her to a weight bench, took off her clothes, and repeatedly raped her.

When Harkey left the house, the victim managed to drag the weight bench up the stairs and leave out of the front door- naked, bleeding, and still handcuffed to the weight bench.

A neighbor stopped to help the victim until police arrived.

During the officer’s investigation, they learned that Matthew Harkey had rented a vehicle the day before the attack.

The vehicle was located being driven in Winnebago County that same day. When officers with the Illinois State Police and Winnebago County Sheriff’s office attempted to stop the vehicle it took off, driving around 100mph on Perryville Rd.

Due to heavy traffic and excessive speeds the defendant was able to get away.

Detectives tracked the vehicle using the find my phone feature on the victim’s electronics that the defendant had taken during the attack. That information was shared with agencies in southern IL and they were able to locate the vehicle and bring Harkey into custody.