Dixon man accused of rape in Lee County, home invasion in Whiteside

DIXON – A Dixon man charged in Whiteside County with shooting a handgun after a home invasion was charged in Lee County for an unrelated incident — using a knife to force a woman to perform a sex act, and with raping and strangling her.

Brett E. Benters, 38, faces 16 to 40 years in prison if convicted of criminal sexual assault using a dangerous weapon.

Benters also is charged with another count of criminal sexual assault, this one punishable by four to 15 years with no possibility of probation, and with battery, punishable by three to seven years.

Charges were filed Aug. 26. If convicted of all three, the terms would run consecutively. Lee County Court records show.

The attack occurred July 5 or 6, investigators said.

Benters was arrested later July 6 in Whiteside County.

Sheriff’s deputies serving Benters a Lee County warrant for violating a court order found him that afternoon at a home in rural Sterling, where a resident, who knew Benters, said he forced his way inside.

They two got into a fight, and Benters fired a handgun several times inside and outside the home, Sheriff John Booker said.

No one was hit, but both men were slightly injured in the scuffle.

Benters is charged in Whiteside County Court with home invasion causing an injury, which carries a jail term of six to 30 years, plus 20 years for the use of a gun, aggravated battery, which carries three to seven years, and being a felon in possession of a weapon, punishable by two to five years.

Although they occurred in close proximity to each other, the two incidents are not related, Lee County State’s Attorney Charley Boonstra said.

Benters is in Whiteside County jail on $100,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty on July 18, and has a pretrial hearing Sept. 21.

No court date or bond was set in Lee County as of Thursday.

Benters was sentenced to four years in prison on Oct. 29, 2008, for selling narcotics in a park, to five years for burglary in 2003, and to four years’ probation for burglary and making meth in 2002, all in Whiteside County.