Kane prosecutors get jail for Montgomery man accused of sexually assaulting minors

Kane County prosecutors were successful Thursday in asking a judge – again – to have an elderly Montgomery man charged with 129 counts of sexual assault of a minor be held physically in jail and not on pretrial release.

In March, Circuit Judge John Barsanti ruled that Michael G. Farris, 84, be on electronic home monitoring, over prosecutors’ objections.

While on electronic home monitoring, Farris was not to have access to the internet, a cell phone, contact with the victims, nor be around anyone under age 18, and could not leave his home except to go to doctor’s appointments or court.

But on May 1, Barsanti reversed himself and agreed that Farris should be held in jail.

Assistant State’s Attorney Lori Schmidt filed court papers April 24 asking Barsanti to change his earlier ruling and have Farris be held physically in jail, asserting that he poses a safety threat to the community.

“The defendant in this case was charged with 129 offenses involving five separate minor victims,” according to Schmidt’s filing.

Schmidt restated the state’s concern during Thursday’s brief hearing.

“We still believe that the conditions cannot mitigate the safety threat the defendant poses,” Schmidt said.

Farris’s attorney, Seth McClure, said he would file court papers seeking to have his client returned to pretrial electronic home monitoring.

“He has been on (electronic home monitoring) for over a month with no violations,” McClure said. “There’s no reports from probation of any violations.”

McClure said Farris cooperated with Court Services, attended all his court dates and abided by all the conditions Barsanti set for him to be on electronic home monitoring.

A hearing on McClure’s motion is set for May 7.

Last week, a Kane County grand jury indicted Farris on 106 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and 23 counts of criminal sexual assault of minors – a total of 129 charges.

The indictment supersedes the first 90-count felony complaint Feb. 25 filed against Farris.