Detention ordered for Elgin-area man facing child pornography charges

A Kane County judge on Wednesday denied pretrial release for a man facing child pornography charges.

Daniel Janavich, 54, of the 12N200 block of Tina Trail near Elgin, presents a danger to the community, Judge Salvatore LoPiccolo ruled during a detention hearing.

Janavich faces 20 counts of child pornography. If convicted of all counts, including six Class X dissemination counts, he could be sentenced to 21 to 93 years in prison, according to Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Bob Dorr.

Dorr said Elgin police received notification from the state Internet Crimes Against Children task force and began investigating Janavich. Kane County state's attorney's investigators also were involved.

Dorr told LoPiccolo that a search on Nov. 2 turned up 116 pornographic videos on electronic devices belonging to Janavich. All depicted children under age 13, including some under age 10, Dorr said. The videos were disseminated via Dropbox and Kik apps, he said.

Investigators also found phone text messages between Janavich and a Cook County woman about that woman having sex with minor children, Dorr said. In some of the messages, Janavich offered to bring the woman a boy, according to Dorr.

"It seems to be very concerning for any young children," Dorr said. But he acknowledged Janavich did not have any children in that age range.

"That's just fantasy chat," said Brian Mirandola, Janavich's attorney, about the text messages. He said Janavich doesn't know the woman's identity and that there was "no real plan in place to carry out the fantasy."

Janavich has no criminal history, scheduled an appointment to be evaluated by a psychiatrist this week, and was making plans to turn himself in when deputies arrested him on Tuesday.