South Elgin man charged with sexual assault
A South Elgin man arrested last Wednesday on child pornography charges has been arrested again, this time for sexually assaulting a child, authorities said.
William S. Muth, 41, of 1458 S. Blackhawk Circle, South Elgin, was charged at Elgin Branch Court Thursday with two felony counts of child pornography, according to court records.
A day earlier, South Elgin police searched Muth's home with a warrant.
Police said an examination of laptops in the home revealed prepubescent girls in various nude poses and some who were engaged in sex with adult males.
Police said the girls appeared to be between the ages of 8 and 12.
Muth admitted downloading images and videos of child pornography on the Internet, police said.
According to a court report, he paid $79.95 and $99.95 on two different occasions to a company whose Web sites download child pornography.
In court on Thursday, Muth said he recently started a business as a sales representative. Then he said, "I'm sorry," before his voice trailed off.
Kane County Judge Susan Clancy Boles told him if he is convicted of the charges, he could receive four to 10 years in prison and set his bond at 10 percent of $200,000.
Muth appeared at the Kane County bond call again on Saturday with his attorney and was charged this time with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, offenses that could land him in prison for 12 to 120 years, if he is convicted.
The age of the victim and her relationship to Muth were not mentioned in court documents, but according to Illinois law, the offender must be older than 17 and the victim younger than 13 for a predatory sexual assault charge to be approved by the state's attorney.
Kane County Judge Susan Clancy Boles set Muth's bond on the new charges at 10 percent of $500,000 and he was remanded to the Kane County jail.
South Elgin police Chief Christopher Merritt said the victim will remain unidentified due to her age.
He praised his officers and said they had worked with the Illinois attorney general's office in bringing the case to a conclusion.