Mundelein sex offender pleads not guilty to child porn charges
A registered sex offender from Mundelein, who was arrested after a search of his Ivanhoe Estates home allegedly turned up a multitude of child pornography images, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County court.
Nicholas Lee Hermann, 54, of North Sky Crest Drive, faces 80 to 300 years in prison if found guilty on all 20 counts of possession of child pornography of victims under the age of 13, Assistant State's Attorney Mary Stanton said.
Hermann is free from Lake County jail after posting the required 10 percent of his $500,000 bail, officials said.
Authorities said officers armed with a search warrant entered Hermann's home June 23, and seized multiple electronic devices containing an extensive amount of images and videos involving children under the age of 13.
The investigation was conducted by the Lake County Sheriff's Cybercrimes Unit and the Lake County State's Attorney's Cybercrimes Unit, authorities said.
Normally, each child pornography charge would put Hermann behind bars for 3 to 7 years, Stanton said. However, the prison time in this case is enhanced to 4 to 15 years because Hermann has a 2003 conviction of sexual assault of a child in Winnebago County, Wisconsin.
In addition, she said, the charges would be served as consecutive terms, meaning Hermann would need to serve each guilty conviction one after the other.
Defense attorney Jed Stone said the trial is scheduled for Nov. 16. Hermann is due back in court Oct. 19.