Area man brought up on rape charge

By Stewart Warren

A DeKalb man was charged Tuesday with kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old Genoa girl.

Stephen R. Meyers, 29, 807 Ridge Road, DeKalb, is being held on $500,000 bond in the DeKalb County Jail.

DeKalb County Police charged Meyers with aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnaping in connection with the Sunday incident.

Police said the girl allegedly was abducted while she was walking down Baseline Road between 4 and 5 p.m Sunday. The girl allegedly was taken to DeKalb, raped and dropped off in downtown Genoa around 11 p.m., DeKalb County Police Capt. Jim Laben said.

The girl’s parents reported her missing around 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Laben said.

He said the police and neighbors searched for the girl until she was found.

The victim was “a key factor in us being able to pin this down quickly,” Laben said.

He said the police found a car based on the girl’s description and it led them to Meyers.

The police quickly closed the case through “the team effort of the patrol division,” Laben said.

DeKalb States Attorney Mike Coglan said “at this point I see no connection” between this incident and the sexual assault of an NIU student early Tuesday morning.

Associate Circuit Judge Richard Larson set Meyers’ preliminary hearing for April 26.