Sex offender accused of murder being paroled

Sep. 5--DIXON -- A Franklin Grove sex offender accused of murdering a toddler in December 2016 is being paroled Friday on previous charges and immediately returned to Lee County.

Ryan A. McClain, 39, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery of a child and aggravated domestic battery.

He will be released from Stateville Correctional Center and held in Lee County Jail on his original $2 million bond.

McClain was serving time in Big Muddy River Correctional Center for crimes involving a 17-year-old when he was indicted Sept. 21 in the death of the 1-year-old girl.

Investigators say he shook and threw the baby into a playpen several times between November and Dec. 9, 2016, eventually fracturing her skull. She died a week later.

He faces 4 to 100 years, or life, on the murder charge, 30 to 60 years for aggravated battery of a child, and 3 to 7 years for aggravated domestic battery.

McClain, who has been appearing in Lee County Court periodically in this case, has his next pretrial conference on Sept. 19. In his last appearance on Aug. 20, he was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation; presumably, the results will be discussed at the hearing if they are available.

McClain was sentenced Oct. 11, 2017, to 5 years for indecent solicitation/aggravated sexual abuse. Charges of indecent solicitation of a child over the internet, and failure to register as a sex offender were dismissed as part of his plea agreement.

In that case, McClain tried to establish a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl; he was arrested when a friend of the teen notified police.

He is being paroled after serving roughly a year and 11 months.

In 2010, he was sentenced to 3 years for aggravated battery of a child and to a year and 6 months for indecent solicitation of a 1-year-old, and in 2009 he got a year and a half for domestic battery. Those sentences, all levied in Lee County, ran consecutively.

In Ogle County, McClain has four 2002 felony convictions: three for burglary involving vehicle break-ins, and one for damaging property. He was sentenced to 3 concurrent years on each charge.

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