SYCAMORE – A DeKalb County judge has again denied a Sycamore man pretrial release from the county jail as the man awaits criminal proceedings for charges of reproducing videos depicting child sexual abuse.

Richard C. Milam, 69, had appealed to Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick through his Wheaton-based defense lawyer, Neil Levine, to be released from DeKalb County Jail, where he’s been held in police custody since his Dec. 17 arrest.

Buick denied that motion Thursday, ruling in favor of prosecutors with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s office who argued that Milam’s release could endanger the public. Prosecutors also argued that no conditions set by the court would keep the community safe were Milam to be released from jail.

Milam is charged with three felony counts of visual reproduction of child pornography depicting videos and images of child sexual abuse, according to DeKalb County court records. If convicted of the class 2 felonies, he could face between two to seven years in prison.

Charges were filed against Milam on Nov. 17 after Sycamore and Illinois State police executed a search warrant at Milam’s home Nov. 16. During the search, police allegedly found a laptop with multiple videos depicting child sexual abuse, according to DeKalb County court records.

Milam allegedly admitted to downloading and viewing files that depicted images of child sexual abuse but told police he “deleted it,” according to court records.

A status hearing for Milam is set for 2:30 p.m. Feb. 14.