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Man indicted for rape, child porn charges in Butler County

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Posted at 10:27 AM, Feb 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-21 11:03:31-05

BUTLER COUNTY — A warrant has been issued for the arrest of an Illinois man indicted Wednesday for the rape of a teen in Trenton and possession of nude photos of minors.

William John Lemke Jr., 32, of Somonauk, Ill., is facing 44 felony charges for crimes that allegedly occurred in November and December 2019.

Lemke was indicted for rape, two counts of sexual imposition, one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, 11 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and 29 counts of illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance.

According to Middletown Municipal Court records, Lemke was originally charged with rape in December and admitted to the crime involving a 14-year-old. The case was bound over to a grand jury for consideration on Dec. 27.

Bond was set at $500,000 with a 10 percent rule, and he has been free on bond since Jan. 6, according to court records.

The investigation led to additional charges. According to Trenton police, Lemke had 85 naked pictures of the victim in a secured folder on his cell phone.

Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Kelly Heile said some of the pandering charges involve photos and videos of the victim as well as images downloaded from the Internet. Lemke knew the victim, investigators said.

The Trenton police report says the victim reported the incident on Dec. 12 and that it occurred on Thanksgiving Day.

Lemke is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Keith Spaeth. As of Thursday afternoon he had not been booked into the county jail.

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