A 20-year-old woman from Yellville, charged in Arkansas with rape and other offenses, now faces a felony charge in Illinois for allegedly making a false report of sexual assault. McHenry County court documents show Dezarae Manson was charged with one count of disorderly conduct by false report, a Class 4 felony, after she told police that a sexual assault had occurred about eight years earlier.
According to the complaint, Manson informed Officer Timothy Aubert of the Johnsburg Police Department on July 14 that she had been sexually assaulted by a male relative when she was around 12 years old. The report alleges that Manson knowingly made the claim without reasonable grounds to believe the incident occurred. The person accused in the report was not Steven M. Manson Jr., her stepfather and co-defendant in an ongoing Arkansas case.
McHenry County Judge Jeffrey L. Hirsch issued an arrest warrant for Manson on August 3, sealing the case until her arrest. The warrant authorized law enforcement in Illinois and seven neighboring states to detain her but excluded Arkansas. Manson was taken into custody on August 22 and was later released on her own recognizance after appearing before Judge Joel D. Berg, who unsealed the case, assigned her a public defender, and imposed pretrial conditions.
Under her release conditions, Manson is prohibited from contacting the family member she accused, must report any address changes within 24 hours, and is subject to regular supervision and compliance checks from Illinois pretrial services officials. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 20 in Woodstock, Illinois, following an earlier postponement requested by prosecutors.
Manson’s arrest comes amidst her legal battles in Arkansas, where she is charged with rape, second-degree sexual assault, and coercion related to a March 7 incident in Marion County. She was released on a $50,000 surety bond in March and is being represented by a public defender after her former counsel, Eugene Clifford, withdrew from all cases citing a conflict of interest.
In a sworn affidavit filed upon her Illinois arrest, Manson stated she had recently been living in Johnsburg, Illinois, with relatives and was starting a job in nearby Antioch. She described leaving what she called “a grooming situation” involving her stepfather in Arkansas and said she was working to build a new life. Manson also filed paperwork to revert to her birth name, Kennedy, citing personal and emotional hardships after prior attempts to adopt the Manson family name.
Arkansas prosecutors have not filed a motion to revoke Manson’s bond following her new Illinois felony charge, even though state court rules allow such action under circumstances involving new criminal charges. Both Steven M. Manson Jr. and Steven L. Manson Sr., her stepfather and his father, remain in custody in Marion County while facing charges stemming from the alleged March 7 rape at the family’s Yellville property. Transcripts from Marion County court records describe a complex relationship between Manson, her stepfather, and the legal system.
Legal experts note the Illinois charge could be used to challenge Manson’s credibility as a witness if she is called to testify in cases against her co-defendants. A defense strategy could leverage the absence of convictions or pending charges of false reporting to discredit her testimony, though no filings to do so have been reported thus far. Manson Jr. and Manson Sr. are scheduled for hearings in Arkansas in October and November, respectively.