Aurora man declared to be a sexually violent person
A Kane County judge Thursday ruled a man convicted of possession of child pornography is a sexually violent person.
Judge Clint Hull ordered that Erik Paxton, 35, be committed to the custody of the state Department of Human Services, which runs state mental-health institutions.
Paxton, formerly of Aurora, pleaded guilty in February 2014 to possessing child pornography and was sentenced to four years in prison. He only had to serve half the time and received credit for the 1¾ years he had spent in the Kane County jail awaiting trial.
The attorney general filed the SVP case in March 2014. Paxton has been held in the IDHS Treatment and Detention Center in Rushville since his release from prison.
“The court has found this defendant continues to be a danger to the community,” Raoul said in a news release. “I am committed to protecting Illinois families and communities from those who prey on innocent children.”
A psychologist’s report filed in 2014 by prosecutors detailed Paxton's admissions to Aurora police after his arrest in May 2012 on charges of spying on girls in Aurora, stealing underwear from homes and possession of child pornography, according to a 2014 Daily Herald article.
The report said besides finding child pornography on Paxton’s computer, police found downloaded pictures of dead children, information on the use of chloroform and a “large collection” of female underwear.
Paxton had images on his cellphone of preteen girls he supervised at the Heritage YMCA’s “Safe and Sound” program at an Aurora school, the report said. According to the report, Paxton told police he used the photos to help him remember the children's names. He later admitted going to the homes of two 11-year-old girls in the program in 2012 to spy on them and try to see them naked, according to the report.
To be committed as a sexually violent person, a person must have been convicted of a sexually violent offense and suffer from a mental disorder. The prosecution must also prove that the offender is likely to commit future acts of sexual violence if released from custody.
Once committed, offenders are re-evaluated regularly to determine if they continue to meet the criteria for commitment.