By Carmen Ensinger
A 74-year-old man, who was living in South Jacksonville at the time of his arrest in September of last year on Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a child, was found unfit to stand trial.
Steven T. Albers was charged on Sept. 19, 2023 with four counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child, a Class X felony, and two counts of Criminal Sexual Assault, a Class 1 felony. These incidents took place over a decade ago.
Albers was accused of sexually assaulting a female family member under the age of 13. Two of the Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault charges were allegedly committed in 2010 and the other two in 2014, when the victim was still under the age of 13. The Criminal Sexual Assault charges were on the same victim, who was now over 13 years of age but under the age of 17.
According to online court records, after a detention hearing, Albers was denied pre-trial release and remanded to jail.
Albers suffered a heart attack on Nov. 8 and on Dec. 11, the court granted Albers pre-trial release. In April of this year, Albers was committed to the Department of Human Services and a finding of unfitness to stand trial hearing was vacated.
In May, due to Albert’s medical issues rendering him inappropriate for County Jail incarceration while awaiting trial, the Court modified the pre-trial detention to home confinement and electronic monitoring at the home he shared with his brother in South Jacksonville. At this time, Alberts was awaiting admission to Illinois Department of Mental Health for evaluation of fitness to stand trial.
On July 19, Alberts was committed to the Department of Human Services and was found unfit to stand trial.
