Child porn charges levied against trio accused of pimping 14-year-old

Three Lake in the Hills residents accused of luring a teenage girl from Kansas and putting her to work as a prostitute are facing new child pornography charges alleging they took photographs of her and posted them online to drum up business.

Antwanette R. Atkins, 42, Donald R. Jones, 52, and Kari D. Knox, 36, each face seven felony counts of child pornography stemming from actions authorities say they took Dec. 31, the same day the 14-year-old girl arrived in Lake in the Hills from Wichita.

Five of the new charges are Class 1 felonies, punishable by four to 15 years in prison, alleging they either manufactured or distributed material of a minor in sexual a situation. The remaining two are Class 3 felonies, punishable by two to five years in prison, alleging possession of child pornography.

McHenry County prosecutors declined to discuss specifics of the new charges Friday, but did allude to the accusations in January during a court hearing at which Jones unsuccessfully sought a bond reduction.

At that hearing, Philip Hiscock, criminal division chief for the McHenry County State's Attorney, said Jones first met the girl through an online social networking site and then drove to Kansas Dec. 30 to get her. After returning the next day to his home in the 3500 block of Sonoma Circle, he took photos of her and posted them on the Internet with an advertisement for escort services, Hiscock said.

That same night, prosecutors allege, Atkins took the girl to have sex with two men who paid the teen money she later gave to Jones.

Atkins, Jones and Knox first were charged in January with juvenile pimping and involuntary servitude of a minor, charges that could land each of them in prison for a maximum 30 years. All three have pleaded not guilty and asked for jury trials.

Jones also faces aggravated trafficking and kidnapping in Kansas, where he is now in custody awaiting trial on those accusations. Atkins and Knox are in custody at the McHenry County jail, unable to post $25,000 cash bond.