WEST LOOP — An alleged serial rapist who previously owned a West Loop tanning salon is garnering national attention as more victims come forward.
Elizabeth Smart, whose kidnapping at age 14 made headlines in 2002, interviews victim Lesley Barton in the Friday episode of "Crime Watch Daily With Chris Hansen." Fifteen years ago, Barton said she was raped and attacked by Marc Winner after a night out drinking.
In the 2001 case, Winner was convicted of battery in the case and sentenced to probation, court records show. Although a Glenview police report states that Winner was arrested on suspicion of criminal sexual assault, a felony review prosecutor declined to file felony charges against him.
Winner received two years probation. Barton said she was "enraged."
Accused of raping at least four women in the years after Barton's alleged assault, Winner was released on bond last month.
Before and following the recent charges, Barton shared her story with the media in hopes that she could keep Winner from hurting others.
"I am just so sorry that I couldn't stop him," Barton told DNAinfo Chicago earlier this year, fighting tears. "I told everyone what he was going to do. I knew this was going to happen. I prayed it didn't."
RELATED: Tanning Salon Owner Marc Winner Raped Me in 2001 But Went Free, Woman Says
In the Smart interview, Barton recalls the alleged attack.
“He slammed me down on the tanning bed and he’s strangling me...and he’s using his other hand to pull down my pants,” she said.
The "Crime Watch Daily" episode airs at 3 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday on WGN channel 9.
Prosecutors allege Winner, 45, raped nine women. Five of those incidents happened too long ago for charges to be filed against Winner due to a state statute of limitations, Assistant State's Attorney Mikki Miller has said. The remaining four cases are pending before Cook County Judge Carol M. Howard.
In three of those cases, Winner is accused of raping employees or customers at his tanning salon.
Winner was being held without bail in the third case until last month, when his total bond was set at $625,000, and he posted $62,500 to go free.
When Lesley Barton heard about the bail reduction, she said, "This is exactly why rape victims don't come forward."
Winner also faces a lawsuit that aims to evict his now-shuttered Soleil tanning salon from the storefront at 1018 W. Madison St.
Soleil, a Marc Winner tanning salon, is located at 1018 W. Madison St. in the West Loop. The business was shut down by the city in May. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
To learn more about Winner's pending cases, read:
• Accused Rapist Marc Winner's Landlord Speaks Out: 'It Was A Shock'
• Accused Serial Rapist Marc Winner Released From Jail, Then Runs From Media
• Accused Rapist Marc Winner's Tanning Salon Faces Eviction In West Loop
• Accused Serial Rapist Marc Winner Could Be Free Soon After Bail Reduction
• Marc Winner Raped Woman In His Mom's Edgewater Home, Officials Say
• City Shuts Down Accused Serial Rapist Marc Winner's Tanning Salon
• Accused Rapist Marc Winner Attacked in County Jail, Officials Say
• Accused Serial Rapist's Tanning Salon Operating Illegally, City Says
• Accused Serial Rapist's Tanning Salon Should Be Shut Down, Alderman Says
• Suspected Serial Rapist Marc Winner 'Anxious' For Trial, Attorney Says
• Tanning Salon Owner Marc Winner Raped Me in 2001 But Went Free, Woman Says
• Salon Owner Charged In 3 Rape Cases Denied Bail, 'A Danger,' Judge Says
• Tanning Salon Owner Allegedly Raped 2nd Woman After Judge Tossed 2013 Case
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