Kane County Circuit Judge John Barsanti set Jan. 7 as a new date either for a plea or a trial for an elderly man accused of sexually assaulting minors.

Michael G. Farris, 85, of Montgomery, was charged with 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 Jan. 20, 2008, and July 30, 2022, according to court records and a joint news release from State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser and Montgomery police.

“Jan. 7, that is your next court date Mr. Farris,” Barsanti said. “I need to see you here in court that day, understand? If you fail to show up in court, Mr. Farris, I will issue a warrant for your arrest.”

Farris currently is free on pretrial release and under electronic home monitoring. He is prohibited from contacting anyone under age 18, according to a judge ruling, which also prohibits internet access and requires that he check with probation before leaving home for doctor’s appointments, records show.

Prosecutors sought for Farris to be confined in physical custody, not pretrial release, citing his access to children as a real and present threat to the community. Although Farris was detained under another judge’s order, Barsanti ruled for the defense’s assertions that the state failed to meet its burden that Farris posed a real and present threat to the community.

Prosecutors filed an appeal in July.

In a 22-page decision on Oct. 7, the Second District Appellate Court in Elgin ruled 2-1 that Farris agreed with Barsanti that the state did not meet its burden of proving he posed a real and present danger to the community, and allowed him to remain on pretrial release with home monitoring.

Justices Margaret Mullen and Susan Hutchinson ruled in the majority to allow Farris to remain on pretrial release while Justice Joseph Birkett dissented.

The defense argued that Farris has ongoing health and mobility issues so that electronic home monitoring is “sufficient to mitigate any threat posed by ‘the now-84-year-old, isolated and ailing’ defendant,” according to the filing.

Farris also had complied with all the conditions required, and now in his 80s has “significantly reduced opportunities and capacity for such crimes,” according to the filing.

As far as prosecutors were concerned, however, “there were no conditions available that could mitigate the risk of any threat posed ... as one of his victims was a teenager going door to door shoveling snow,” according to the appellate filing.

While Farris did not have a criminal history, he “admitted to sexually abusing multiple children over the course of many years,” according to the filing, including people he knew, neighbors and from groups he socialized with.

In his dissent, Birkett said one victim had offered to shovel Farris’ driveway.

“These facts do not only show defendant’s access to victims in his community, but they also evince his opportunistic nature,” according to Birkett’s dissent.

“The record further indicates that defendant successfully evaded detection for over a decade – possibly longer, considering the allegations made concerning [another victim’s] childhood," according to Birkett’s dissent. “This, in turn, underscores defendant’s persistence and his abilities to exploit others’ trust in concealing his conduct, even while undergoing sex offender counseling.”

The snow shoveling incident “shows that any innocent, mundane interaction between defendant and a minor could result in the latter’s abuse. ... all he had to do was knock on defendant’s door to be invited in and subsequently abused,” according to Birkett’s dissent.

Knocking on a door to shovel snow - or selling candy and trick-or-treating – are chance encounters that are an ordinary part of life in any residential neighborhood, according to Birkett’s dissent.

Farris on home monitoring “will continue to put children at risk ... age and frailty do not necessarily prevent a serial child sex offender – such as defendant, according to the state’s proffer – from reoffending,” according to Birkett’s dissent.