I think that everyone can agree that raping people and killing babies is evil. Of course it is, it's what we're raised to believe (and quite rightly). If I were to read this it would probably turn my stomach but it likely wouldn't make me think 'evil' it would make me think 'disgusting'. Though I'm not saying to take those parts out. My point is that if you have an evil character you want people to feel the hatred towards them that the victims feel, strong emotion is what will make your readers want to keep reading. That's because emotion in the reader is stirred when they connect with a character's feelings or a character's situation. Everyone has felt anger, helplessness, fear etc. Therefore i think that if you really want your character to seem evil you should try and make your readers become invested in a character that is victim to your evil character. I hope this didn't come across in a negative way, not my intention at all, sometimes i just struggle to get my point across, haha! Good Luck with your story, it sounds interesting
I know I mention him a lot, but if you want to see fictional evil genius, study John Liebert of Monster. (He's my favorite villain.) He's calm, always in control, and evil. He ruins people's lives, kills them and plays head games with them only because he can. He's not after money, fame or power, he just wants to see people destroy themselves and others. And he's chillingly sane.
True evil is not in the action but the intent. If the character knows what they are doing, knows the pain and suffering it causes, is only doing it for their own gain or satisfaction, and has a choice not to go ahead but chooses to anyway, they are more evil than a character who lacks one of the above choices but still commits the same act.
