Wayne Smith, 25, allegedly raped the women and then threatened to shoot them. In the first case, Smith is accused of assaulting a woman in her Northwest Side home in October 2009. On that same day, he allegedly raped another woman in her home on the city's South Side. Due to a lack of evidence, Smith was never charged in those two cases -- until he was charged in a third attack just three weeks ago.
All of Smith's victims met him online before meeting him in person on Facebook.com.
"He gained their confidence and was able to forcibly engage in sexual intercourse with each of them," Det. William Filipiac, Chicago Police Department, said.
The most recent attack occurred in Smith's home in the 12200-block of South Wallace, police said, at the end of February.
"He meets these women online, somehow gains their confidence, [and] meets with them eventually," Filipiac said.
Smith is being held on a combined bond of $1.5 million.
While Facebook is extremely popular, Detective Filipiac says all social networking sites are places predators go to look for victims. Filipiac's advice to is give as little as information as possible on Facebook- a username is enough. Police say never share an address online or other personal information.
"You gotta remember that all the info out up privately on Facebook is accessible somehow or other. That's why you don't want to put too much on," Det. Filipiac said.
Police recommend bringing someone with you to meet someone you met online. Detectives also warn Facebook users to be careful about the pictures they post online since many can reveal personal information.
