Beecher man charged with disseminating child sex abuse materials released from jail

A Will County judge allowed the release from jail of a man facing a charge of disseminating child sex abuse materials whom a prosecutor said is “actively looking for young girls.”

On Tuesday, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak declined to grant prosecutors’ request to keep Jasen Zurisk, 49, locked up. Zurisk was charged April 29 with possession and dissemination of child sex abuse videos.

Bertani-Tomczak ruled that prosecutors did not sustain their burden of proof in their petition to deny Zurisk’s pretrial release.

As a condition of pretrial release, Zurisk must submit to electronic monitoring. He also cannot possess a smartphone or have contact with any minors.

A prosecutor said in court Tuesday that Zurisk should remain in jail because he is charged with disseminating child sex abuse materials.

During the investigation, a cellphone belonging to Zurisk contained videos of child sex abuse materials that were moved to a folder to make them harder to find, the prosecutor said.

Zurisk’s wife was interviewed, and she told investigators that the phone belongs to her husband and she did not know the passcode to the device, the prosecutor said.

Investigators uncovered text messages showing Zurisk trying to make contact with young girls, the prosecutor said.

They learned that Zurisk is attracted to girls between 10 and 14, the prosecutor said.

The prosecutor argued that Zurisk is a danger to the community because he is “actively looking for young girls.”

Zurisk’s defense attorney contended that the text messages attributed to his client were online and there’s no evidence that he physically made contact with any girls.

The attorney claimed that prosecutors were making a “disingenuous” argument, and Bertani-Tomczak could set conditions to mitigate the risks of Zurisk’s pretrial release.

After Bertani-Tomczak’s ruling, Zurisk was released from jail about 5:10 p.m. Tuesday.

Zurisk’s wife has filed for divorce and petitioned for a protective order against him in the weeks before the criminal case was filed.

Zurisk’s wife said in the petition for the protective order that investigators found “thousands of messages with minors on an app called Kik.”

The court filings in those cases list Zurisk as the director of maintenance for the city of Chicago Heights, which is in Cook County.

The Herald-News contacted Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez about Zurisk’s employment status and received a response from David Ormsby, who runs a public relations firm in Chicago.

“It is the practice of the city of Chicago Heights not to publicly comment on the employment status of any individuals who may be involved in any official investigation,” according to Ormsby’s statement.