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Wheeling man charged with sexually abusing 3 children in the '90s

A Wheeling man faces multiple felony charges after three people came forward claiming he sexually molested them repeatedly between 1991 and 1998, police said Monday.

Juan Ortiz, 44, of the 300 block of Inland Drive, is charged with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. He could face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.

Palatine police said they arrested Ortiz on Friday after an investigation during which three accusers indicated they were assaulted by Ortiz on multiple occasions while he lived in a Palatine home in the 1990s.

The accusers were under the age of 13 on those occasions, police said.

A Cook County judge set Ortiz's bail at $100,000.

He remained in custody at the county jail Monday awaiting a court appearance Thursday.

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