Kane judge releases man accused of sexually assaulting minors to home monitoring

A Kane County judge changed his mind and over the prosecutor’s objections returned an elderly man accused of aggravated criminal sexual assault to electronic home monitoring.

Michael G. Farris, 84, of Montgomery, was indicted April 23 on 106 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and 23 counts of criminal sexual assault of five minors between the ages of 13 and 17 from 2008 to 2022, records show.

Prosecutors were successful last week in asking Circuit Judge John Barsanti to have Farris held physically in jail instead of on electronic home monitoring.

But after a hearing Wednesday, Barsanti changed his mind and ruled that Farris should be on electronic home monitoring and not physically held in jail.

Barsanti set the same conditions as before: that Farris not have contact with the victims in his case, with anyone under age 18, no access to the internet, and he can only leave home for doctor appointments and court.

“Your honor listed a lot of conditions for Mr. Farris,” his attorney, Seth McClure, said. “They (prosecutors) do not allege that he violated any condition...That release is going to continue as long as he does not violate any of those conditions...He has complied with every single condition that your honor put in place.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Wilkinson said Farris’s presence at his house presents a risk to the community and asked that he remain in custody at the jail.

“It’s reasonable that any child who comes to the defendant’s door to, say, mow the grass at this point, he could easily be victimized by this defendant as he has victimized people in the past,” Wilkinson said. “He is a danger to any child.”

Barsanti noted Farris’s frail appearance, seated in a wheelchair in court.

“I’ve thought a lot about this since last week,” Barsanti said. “I’m going to release him on the conditions that we set.”

Barsanti said Farris was under investigation for an extended period of time, during which there were no allegations reported, and also cited the SAFE-T Act, which factored into his decision.

Farris’s next court date is June 13.