Prospect Heights man pleads guilty to sexually abusing teenage boys

One half of a Prospect Heights couple accused of sexually abusing teenage boys has pleaded guilty, court records show.

Anthony Wheeler, 31, was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in prison, with credit for 2,451 days he’s already spent in custody, according to court records.

Wheeler must complete at least 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole. Upon his release, he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to court records.

Wheeler pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and child pornography in exchange for the sentences, according to court records.

His husband, co-defendant Christopher Wheeler, 37, next appears in court on Jan. 17.

Prosecutors say the Wheelers sexually abused boys they had invited into their home, including a teen related to them who authorities say had been beaten and sexually assaulted for five years.

Announcing the charges during a 2017 hearing, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Lorna Amado-Chevlin said “each and every one occurred with force or threat of force.”

“It was beaten into the head of (one accuser) that what happens in this house stays in this house,” Amado-Chevlin said during that hearing six years ago.

In another case, the defendants were charged with sexually abusing and videotaping a teenage friend of the relative.

From the couple’s home, police recovered deleted digital files with multiple images of teens being sexually abused, according to prosecutors. The deleted video files led to the identification of a previously unknown teenage boy, who authorities say the defendants sexually assaulted.

Another accuser was 14 years old in December 2016 when the Wheelers began abusing him, prosecutors said.