Montgomery man charged with sexually assaulting minors put on home electronic monitoring system

Despite the opposition of the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office, a 85-year-old Montgomery man charged with allegedly sexually assaulting several minors over a 15-year period has been allowed to return to his home after being put on an electronic monitoring program.

As part of the court order approved by Kane County Judge John Barsanti, Michael G. Farris cannot have any contact with any of the five listed victims or any minor under the age of 18. In addition, Farris can’t have any access to any electronic devices and any cell phone “can’t have any internet access,” according to the order.

The order also allows court services to search his home and that he needs to get approval in advance to go to any doctor appointment.

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser issued a statement stating her disapproval to the decision to release Farris.

“My office strongly opposed the court’s decision last week to release defendant Michael Farris under electronic home monitoring,” Mosser states. “Even the strictest EHM conditions cannot mitigate the threat Farris poses to the community. EHM does not allow authorities to monitor whom the defendant is with or what they are doing, which is especially concerning given the heinous allegations here – including the assault of a victim who went to Farris’s door to offer his snow shoveling services. The scope and nature of the charges against Farris are extremely serious and deeply disturbing. He remains a danger to the community, and my office will be appealing this decision.”

Farris was released on March 24 after being taken into custody in February at his Montgomery home by Montgomery Police without incident following an investigation which resulted in charges from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. Farris has been charged with 23 felony counts of criminal sexual assault and 67 felony counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

Between Jan. 20, 2008, and July 30, 2022, he allegedly committed the acts with five victims between the ages of 13 and 17, according to the charging documents. Farris was involved with youth organizations, such as being a Boy Scout leader and involved in a train club, according to authorities.

After being taken into custody, authorities said Farris admitted to having sexually assaulted and abused four of those victims. He also admitted to having had contact with an additional five minors, bringing the total number of victims to 10.

His next court hearing is set for 9 a.m. April 24 at the Kane County Judicial Center for a preliminary hearing.