Mendota man’s trial set Oct. 16 – for now, on charge of possessing child sexual abuse material

A Mendota funeral director remains set for trial Oct. 16 – for now, anyway – on felony charges, but lawyers must first settle a pre-trial issue.

Brett W. Merritt, 54, appeared Thursday in La Salle County Circuit Court on his pending charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and possessing child sexual abuse material. He could face up to seven years if convicted at trial.

First, however, Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. needs to decide whether prosecutors can introduce evidence of other crimes committed with the alleged victim – acts not specifically detained in his four counts.

Ordinarily, that’s a no-no. Prosecutors usually are not permitted to introduce evidence of other, previous offenses. Jurors in a bank robbery case, for example, cannot hear evidence that the suspect had robbed other banks.

There are exceptions to that rule.

According to a pleading filed Wednesday against Merritt, “the state will seek to introduce evidence of ongoing sexual abuse and evidence of child pornography,” some of it as far back as 2017.

That, prosecutors said, is to show motive and intent.

A written reply by Mendota defense attorney David Kaleel is pending. The issue is to be discussed likely when Merritt appears Oct. 12 for a final pre-trial conference.

Merritt was charged after investigators said they seized sexually explicit images of a female teenager known to authorities. A grand jury later added sexual abuse counts detailing illicit contact with the teen in 2017 and 2018.