Mt. Morris man’s addiction to watching child sex images ‘escalated’ before arrest – Shaw Local
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Mt. Morris man’s addiction to watching child sex images ‘escalated’ before arrest – Shaw Local

OREGON – A man from Mt. Morris’ addiction to viewing images of child sexual abuse poses a threat to society and he should remain in prison as his case works its way through the legal system, a Ogle County the judge ruled on Wednesday.

Christopher J. Kaepplinger, 54, asked Judge Clayton Lindsey to release him from custody to retrieve personal items from his apartment at 302 1/2 E. Lincoln St.

Kaepplinger was arrested on October 31 following Ogle County Sheriff detectives and officers with Illinois State Police The Division of Criminal Investigation searched his apartment and found images of children under the age of 13 being sexually assaulted, according to court documents.

Kaepplinger was charged Nov. 1 with six counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, all Class 2 felonies that — if convicted — carry a maximum prison sentence of 3-7 years. According to court documents, Kaepplinger is accused of having pictures on his cell phone of children in sexual poses.

In each of Kaepplinger’s three court appearances since his arrest, judges have denied his request for release.

On Wednesday, Assistant Public Defender Michael O’Brien again addressed his client’s continued detention.

“He (Kaepplinger) is uncertain about his current living arrangements,” O’Brien said, referring to the Mount Morris apartment and a possible eviction and potential loss of personal identification documents. “All is likely to be lost if he continues to be incarcerated. He believes it is imminent.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Heather Kruse said Kaepplinger was too much of a threat to be released.

She said Kaepplinger told police he had struggled with addiction “since he was little.” She said police were led to Kaepplinger after receiving “cyber tips” from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She said a phone registered to Kaepplinger had been used to upload images of children being sexually abused.

“He also told them he knew this day was coming,” Kruse said, referring to when police searched Kaepplinger’s home and arrested him. “He admitted the photos were his.”

Kruse said Kaepplinger had used “young slut” as an Internet search to find images of children being sexually exploited. And, she said, Kaepplinger had pretended to be a little girl in one of the chat rooms he visited.

Prosecutors say Kaepplinger had also recently worked for a school, had left that job, but was actively seeking new jobs at schools based on Internet searches.

“His behavior is escalating,” Kruse said. “Now he’s looking for jobs in schools.”

O’Brien argued that certain conditions — including electronic monitoring — could be placed on Kaepplinger if he were to be released.

He said the court could impose conditions on Kaepplinger’s release, including restricting him from certain websites, banning him from all Internet access, ordering him to have no contact with minors and to wear an electronic monitoring device.

“All of these things would address the type of crime this person is charged with,” O’Brien argued. “It would reduce the risk.”

Kruse disagreed. “We truly believe he should remain in custody,” Kruse said, adding that the threat to the community should outweigh Kaepplinger’s request for release.

Lindsey agreed with Kruse that Kaepplinger would pose a “danger to society as a whole” if he were to be released from custody at this point, regardless of any pretrial release conditions set by the court.

Kaepplinger’s next hearing is at 13.30 on 4 December.