Mount Prospect man denies molesting two boys

A Mount Prospect man pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Lake County circuit court to charges he molested two 15-year-old boys at a Buffalo Grove business.

Herbert Burgess, 57, of the 2300 block of South Lexington Drive, is charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse in a pair of attacks police say took place in August.

Assistant State’s Attorney Patricia Fix said Buffalo Grove police were called by a parent of one of the boys in mid-August after the boy told the parent Burgess had molested him.

Interviews with that boy led police to a second boy who Fix said told them Burgess had molested him at the same business in an industrial park.

Burgess was arrested Aug. 21 and was ordered held on $500,000 bond.

Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak told Burgess he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted of criminal sexual assault.

Aggravated criminal sexual abuse carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, Potkonjak told Burgess, and both crimes are also punishable by probation.

Potkonjak scheduled a trial of the case for Nov. 7 and ordered Burgess to appear in court Oct. 13.