HELP STOP THIS SEXUAL PREDATOR & GET HIM DEPORTED!
The owner, Sonni, has molested at least 2 teenage girls in my neighborhood. I hope at the very least to warn parents not to send their daughters in there alone. He is still being allowed to ruin our community and endanger our children, so if you're as outraged as I am about this please spread the word and stop supporting a business run by a pedophile. Many regulars knew the old manager, Crystal, so encourage you to read the attached screenshots of my texts with her about Sonni.
I will not post the video to protect this girl's identity, but I have a video of their security camera footage (Crystal allowed me to record it) from February 2023 where you can see a girl enter the back to use the bathroom. Sonni looks around to make sure the store is empty, then enters the refrigerator behind the drinks closest to the soda machine. Then you can see her shadow on the wall next to the open refrigerator door and she does not reappear for a couple minutes. Her firsthand account is that Sonni grabbed her and pulled her into the refrigerator then pushed her against the wall opposite the drinks and attempted to take advantage of her. To continue to groom her and keep her quiet, he allowed this girl to take vapes on a regular basis.
This event was reported to the East Peoria police and was not prosecuted due to lack of incontrovertible evidence. When this happened, the store was owned by Sonni's brother, Jay. Instead of firing him, Jay banned this kid and her family from the gas station. This is also the reason Jay installed additional security cameras covering the hallways behind the freezers and the rest of the property after this happened. Sonni has since taken over ownership. This man is a disgusting pervert and deserves the worst for what he's done. If enough evidence is gathered, maybe one day he'll get what he has coming or at least lose his business or or have to leave the country.
After all that his illegal actions hardly seem worth mentioning, but I will anyway. Sonni has been cited at least once selling age restricted products to minors, though I have personally seen him do it several more times and he was paid off the books for at least 2 years while he worked for Jay. read more