Police in a central Illinois waited more than three years to arrest a man for drugging and raping a woman — and nearly a year after an order of protection against him expired.

Loves Park police did not explain the delay in the arrest of 66-year-old Dennis Bieniek for the February 2022 incident, WTVO reported.

They said they were called to a hospital on February 9, 2022, for reports of a rape. A toxicology report from the victim came back positive for benzodiazepine, the active ingredient in Xanax and Valium.

The victim told investigators she did not have prescriptions for any such drugs and did not consent to sex with Bieniek, whose DNA was found on the woman’s socks, Illinois State Police lab reports say.

She was granted the order of protection after the incident, and it expired last year.

Bieniek was charged with criminal sexual assault without consent.

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[Featured image: Dennis Bieniek/police handout]