A former McLean County staffer charged with viewing child pornography at work will now remain in jail awaiting trial.
The State's Attorney's Office filed a petition to have the court reconsider Bradley W. Beyer's pretrial release. Judge Jason Chambers agreed during a hearing Wednesday morning.
Assistant State's Attorney Daniel Guido argued Judge Amy McFarland erred in considering mitigating factors indicating conditions of pretrial release would reduce the threat Beyer poses to the community.
Beyer is charged with 34 felony counts related to viewing and possessing child pornography depicting children under the age of 18. Guido asked the court to consider additional evidence pointing to deviant behavior that Beyer isn't charged with, but meets the standard of federal child pornography offenses.
Beyer was previously ordered to schedule a sex offender evaluation within seven days and begin treatment within two weeks of that evaluation. On Wednesday, defense attorney Baku Patel said his client has complied.
The first available appointment for a sex offender evaluation was on May 15.
Patel urged the court to consider the narrow scope of the state's request, which was to reconsider the third of three "prongs" weighed by the court in pretrial release hearings since the 2023 Pretrial Fairness Act removed cashless bail in Illinois.
Patel accused the prosecution of "forum shopping," saying the bar to reverse pretrial release would require newly discovered evidence, a change in law or "clear error in Judge McFarland's application of the law."
Chambers, however, disagreed with McFarland's assessment that conditional release would effectively curb Beyer's behavior, noting evidence of his compulsion for viewing child pornography over the course of a decade.
Chambers said on multiple occasions that "someone was noticing" Beyer's alleged behavior. His Instagram and Facebook accounts were revoked in March 2025, Chambers said. Google flagged his account in June 2025.
"Even when you were put on notice, you still continued," Chambers said, "which demonstrates a strength of addiction."
Investigators found evidence Beyer, 56, accessed child pornography in June 2025 during the work day while he was employed as co-director of elections in the McLean County Clerk's Office. In September, police recovered a USB drive with child pornography stored on it that was attached to his work computer, Guido said.
Chambers said this indicates one of two possibilities: that Beyer could not get through a day without viewing child pornography, or that he was trying to conceal his behavior from others.
"Both don't help" the argument that conditional release would result in Beyer controlling his alleged behavior, Chambers said.
Chambers saw no possible conditions of pretrial release were likely to mitigate the threat Beyer poses to the community, noting that treatment takes time and the state Office of Pretrial Services' ability to monitor his devices is limited. Chambers said Beyer is "not unsophisticated" with computers, having once pursued a computer science degree, and that avoiding contact with minors, another condition of his release, doesn't preclude him from continuing the behavior.
Beyer was taken into custody after the hearing. His next court date is April 29.
