Westchester County District Attorney

111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
White Plains, NY 10601
Tel: (914) 995-3586
Fax: (914) 995-2116

April 9, 2013 -- Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Silvio Raul Illescas (DOB 01/03/73) of 79 North Goodwin Avenue, Elmsford, New York was arraigned today on a 28 count indictment charging him with:

• eight counts of Predatory Sexual Assault, class “A-2” Felonies,
• one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a class “B” Felony,
• four counts of Rape in the First Degree, class “B” Felonies,
• six counts of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, class “B” Felonies,
• one count of Robbery in the First Degree, a class “B” Felony,
• one count of Strangulation in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of a Attempted Rape in the First Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, class “D” Felonies,
• one count of Sex Abuse in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony,

relating to four violent sexual assaults in the Town of Greenburgh, the Village of Tarrytown and City of Yonkers.

On Aug. 9, 2011, at approximately 9 p.m., in the first of the four sexual assaults, the defendant, asking for directions, approached a woman in the vicinity of Payne Street and Massaro Park in the Town of Greenburgh as she was walking home after getting off of work. He then grabbed the victim’s purse off of her shoulder and ordered her to get into his car or he would kill her. He then drove to a secluded area near a Home Depot store at Austin Avenue and Sprain Road in Yonkers where he choked and sexually assaulted her.

Approximately a year and a half later, on Feb. 13, 2013, the second sexual assault occurred when the defendant responded to an escort advertisement that the victim posted on "backpage.com", an internet bulletin board site.

At approximately 10 p.m., the same day, the defendant met the victim in a hotel room that she had rented at the Westchester Marriott hotel in the Town of Greenburgh.  Once inside the room, the defendant advised the victim that he wanted to have sex without wearing a condom.  When the victim told the defendant that she would not have sex with him without a condom, the defendant attacked her, punching her in the head and then pressing a knife to her neck telling her that he would kill her if did not comply with what he wanted. A struggle ensued and the defendant choked her leaving serious bruise marks to the side of her neck.

The defendant then threatened the victim with a handgun and sexually assaulted her.
    
Before leaving, the defendant forcibly stole three cell phones that belonged to the victim and warned her that she should not report anything to the police.

Ten days later, on Feb. 23, 2013, the defendant used one of the stolen cell phones and called another woman who had posted a similar advertisement for escort services on "backpage.com".

Shortly after midnight on that day, the defendant met the victim in her hotel room where she was staying at the DoubleTree hotel in the Village of Tarrytown.

While inside the hotel room the defendant pulled out a kitchen knife and approached this victim.  With the knife inches from her face, the defendant told her that he wanted to have sex without a condom.  When the victim said no, the defendant proceeded to jab the knife about the victim’s body, including her face, neck, and chest.

The defendant then attempted to sexually assault the victim. While the assault was going on, the victim managed to get off the bed and run towards the hotel room door.  As she tried to open the door, the defendant came up behind her and stabbed her in the neck causing a serious laceration. Leaving the knife behind, the defendant fled.

Approximately eight days later, on March 3, 2013, the defendant used another phone stolen from the February 13th case to call a third woman who had also posted an advertisement for escort services on "backpage.com".   

The defendant arranged to meet her at the La Quinta Hotel, located in the Town of Greenburgh.  The defendant arrived at approximately midnight on March 3, 2013.

Once inside this victim’s room they agreed to engage in consensual sex, but when the defendant insisted that they have sex without a condom, the victim refused and advised the defendant that she did not want to have sex with him any longer.  The defendant then pulled a knife, threatened the victim and sexually assaulted her.

Greenburgh police were contacted immediately after each incident and initiated an investigation. Detectives from the Greenburgh Police Department and the Tarrytown Police Department, the Westchester County Police Department working closely with the Sex Crimes Bureau of the DA’s office and forensic work by the Westchester County Lab in Valhalla were instrumental developing a suspect and ultimately in charging the defendant.

After the defendant was arrested by Greenburgh police on March 4, 2013, detectives in communication with the DNA section of the Westchester County lab were able to link the case to the previously unsolved open case from 2011 using CODIS, the national DNA databank.

“If not for all four of these women immediately crying out, contacting police and helping with the investigation, this serial rapist, who was becoming increasingly more violent, would still be at large. Aggressive detective work by both the Greenburgh and Tarrytown police departments and assiduous forensic analysis by the Westchester County Department of Labs and Research surely prevented more women from being victimized,” said District Attorney Janet DiFiore after the defendant was arraigned.

The defendant was remanded.

His next court date will be on April 23, 2013.

The defendant faces a maximum of twenty five years to life in state prison on the Predatory Sexual Assault counts.

Assistant District Attorney Fredric Green, Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Joyce Miller of the Sex Crimes Bureau are prosecuting the case.

In compliance with Disciplinary Rule 7-107A of the Code of Professional Responsibility, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.