JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 42-year-old Mt. Vernon man charged in Jefferson County Court with more than a dozen counts of felony child-related sex crimes was already a registered sexual predator at the time of his most recent arrest.

Shawn Wilson is charged with three Class 1 felony counts sexual assault and 14 counts child pornography, for allegedly assaulting a girl between the ages of 13 and 18 in February 2015 and taking nude photos of her.

A warrant was issued for Wilson’s arrest on the charges in January, but he remained at large until his arrest this February in St. Clair County. He was ultimately transported to the Jefferson County Jail where he remains with bail set at $250,000.

Wilson, who has been appearing in court via video conference from the jail, is next due in court May 24 for a pre-trial hearing. The case is tentatively set for a July 12 jury trial.

Wilson was first entered into the Sex Offender Registry for misdemeanor convictions in two separate Jefferson County cases for sexual exploitation of a child through a sex act.

He was subsequently arrested and convicted in 2004 and 2005 in Jefferson County for multiple misdemeanor counts of public indecency and lewd exposure.

Wilson was charged last year with a felony violation of the sex offender registry, but that charge was dismissed a month later. His only felony conviction dates back to 1998, in a case where he was charged with Class X felony home invasion and Class 3 felony aggravated unlawful restraint. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in exchange for the Class X being dismissed.