Sexual Assault, Home Invasion Charges For Kickboxing Studio Owner

EVANSTON, IL — The owner and operator of a local kickboxing studio franchise has been ordered held without bail after his arrest on charges of criminal sexual assault and home invasion earlier this month. Fire crews were on the scene of a minor fire in the laundry room of an apartment building in the 1400 block of Chicago Avenue around 9:15 p.m. on Nov. 11 when a woman emerged and said a man had just forced his way into her apartment and sexually assaulted her.

The 34-year-old resident identified a man trying to leave the scene as her attacker. Police said he was uninterested in remaining on scene until their arrival, so he was grabbed by an Evanston firefighter. Fire department personnel detained him until officers arrived, according to Cmdr. Ryan Glew.

Ken Battinus, 41, of the 900 block of Greenwood Street, Evanston, was arrested at the scene. He and has been held at Cook County Jail since Nov. 13, according to the sheriff's office. His listed address is about two blocks west of the apartment building where he was detained. The woman Battinus is accused of assaulting said she had previously seen him in the area but was otherwise unacquainted with him, according to police.

The resident heard fire alarms sounding in her building and had opened the door to her apartment to leave when she was confronted by the Battinus, she told police. He forced his way into her apartment and pulled down his pants, according to police.

Battinus tried to remove the woman's pants and sexually assaulted her as they struggled in her apartment. Fire department personnel outside heard her shouting for help through an open window, according to Glew. She was able to push him into a television and run out of her unit.

Glew said investigators believe the incident was a crime of opportunity and that the resident had not been specifically targeted. Officers reported Battinus appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the incident. He is due back in court Dec. 3 in Skokie.

Battinus is identified in an online biography as an amateur boxer and veteran of the US Army Airborne. He is the owner, operator and trainer of a kickboxing gym and certified as a personal trainer, boxing coach and corner man, it said. According to its application for a special use permit on Central Street, he is the co-lessee of the location with Jeff and Jim Battinus.