The owner of a horse farm near Richmond, accused of sexually assaulting a teen who’d taken horse riding lessons from him for years, was again denied pretrial release from jail.

Raymond Krussell, 53, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 17 while being in a position of trust and authority, criminal sexual assault of a child, distributing harmful materials to a person under the age of 18 and grooming, according to jail and documents filed in McHenry County court.

With Krussell’s family members and relatives of the girl in the courtroom Tuesday, as well as about a dozen people on viewing the proceedings remotely, Krussell’s attorney said Krussell needs to be released so he can save his business.

During Tuesday’s hearing, defense attorney William Bligh asked Krussell, the owner and operator of Krussell Stables Inc., a series of questions. At one point Krussell began to cry.

Krussell said he’s been riding horses since he was 8 and has worked 34 years as a riding instructor. He has owned the 14-acre property and stables for 20 years. He also lives in a home with his partner on the property that set about 600 yards away from the stables.

Prior to his arrest, Krussell said he worked 12 to 15 hours a day, seven days a week, teaching students, caring for the horses and preparing them and packing the necessary equipment for shows.

“I was in charge of the finishing touches,” Krussell said.

He traveled 120 days a year across the country, and sometimes internationally, buying horses and judging horse shows for the U.S. Equestrian Federation, he said. The shows run from April through November, and he said he’s already missed shows, including one this week he is supposed to be at in South Africa.

Following his arrest on Feb. 5 he was placed on “interim suspension” from the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the organization said.

Krussell’s business closed temporarily, then reopened and reorganized under a different name, Krussell said Tuesday. His attorney had said during his initial court appearance Feb. 6 that the business had shut down.

In denying Krussell’s release, Judge Tiffany Davis noted that conflicting information. Davis said that during Krussell’s first appearance Judge Cynthia Lamb was told the business “will be halted” and he would not be around “other minors.” This is ”not true, apparently,” Davis said, adding it’s still operating and there still are a number of juveniles there.

Krussell said he’s been giving instruction to his partner over the phone from jail on how to run the business and do the work he had done. Krussell said he did 75% of the work on the farm, including giving riding lessons, maintaining equipment and caring for the horses.

But since his arrest, he has lost business, half his employees and has had to sell equipment and horses for less than their value to stay afloat, he said. Before his arrest, he had close to 40 horses and now has just 22, he said.

If released, Krussell, who has no criminal history, said he won’t go to the shows, would wear an ankle monitor and stay at least 3,000 feet away from the girl named in the complaint. But he would help prepare horses for the shows.

Krussell is accused of having sexual contact with the girl at least 100 times over about a year’s time, to which authorities say he admitted. He had trained the girl to ride horses since she was about 8. Authorities allege the sexual abuse began when she was a teenager and began working for him.

Bligh said in the year between the last alleged offense and the charges against Krussell, there was no contact with the named victim. There also have been no police reports filed alleging Krussell committed offenses with any other minor, Bligh said.

The attorney asked Krussell a series of questions, including if he would contact the girl or have contact with any other children. To each question Krussell, responded, “No, sir.”

Bligh said there currently are just three minors who have horses at Krussell’s stables and that Krussell would not go to the stables when they are there.

Krussell is not dangerous, would wear a GPS and would not access any social media, his lawyer said. His business is running at a deficit and “needs his sweat equity and experience,” Bligh said.

Bligh also said Krussell stands before the judge “cloaked in the presumption of innocence.”

But Assistant State’s Attorney Justin Neubauer rebutted the arguments for release. He said that whether or not Krussell’s business succeeds does not “in any way mitigate” the danger he poses or the harm he has caused the teen. Neubauer also said there may be more charges filed regarding an alleged incident that occurred in Kentucky during a horse show involving another minor.

Of the McHenry County charges, the prosecutor said Krussell “cultivated and groomed a child” who worked on his property.

“He’s a danger to children, not just to one child but any child,” the prosecutor said.

Davis referred to the probable cause statement presented to Lamb in February and Lamb’s decision to detain Krussell. Davis said she could find nothing “unreasonable” in Lamb’s decision and “could not really ignore the volume of evidence presented” during his initial appearance.

Krussell is due back in court again May 14.