A man held in Lake County jail the last two years on allegations that he sexually assaulted a child from 2015 until his arrest in 2024 is now in custody of the McHenry County and facing additional felonies involving the same child, court records show.

Simon Gonzalez-Mendez, 48, is charged in McHenry County with three Class X felony counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13 on June 4, 2024. The alleged acts took place in McHenry, when the alleged victim was 12 year old, according to the indictment filed in McHenry County court.

On June 3, Gonzalez-Mendez was transferred to McHenry County from Lake County jail, where he’d been in custody since 2024. There he is charged with 14 Class X felony counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child younger than 13, as well as three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child younger than 13, which are Class 2 felonies, records in Lake County show.

Charging documents allege the sexual assaults began July 26, 2015, in Round Lake, when the child was 4 years old, and continued until the day of his arrest in McHenry on June 4, 2024. When arrested, he was taken into custody of the Lake County jail, likely because that is where the alleged assaults began, according to documents in both counties.

At his initial court appearance June 4 in McHenry County, Gonzalez-Mendez said through his attorney that he would not argue for pretrial release. Instead, his attorney said he “stipulated” to the facts that the state would have presented and waived his right to an argument.

A conviction on a Class X felony carries a potential prison sentence of six to 60 years; therefore, if convicted, he could face the remainder of his life in prison.

Gonzalez-Mendez, who is being represented by an attorney from the McHenry County Public Defender’s office, is due back in court June 24.