RACINE - Wearing sunglasses, a black hat and a green coat, Gary Becker, accompanied by his attorney, walked past the door to the room where he was due to appear before a court commissioner.

"Mayor Gary Becker" was stitched in yellow on the front right of his coat. The City of Racine Wastewater Treatment Department emblem was on the left.

Becker, 51, passed the door to the hearing room seconds after most of the television, photo, Web and newspaper crews went inside. One cameraman and TV reporter followed him to the dead-end of the hallway, where Becker stood, looking at the wall near the door to Judge Faye Flancher's courtroom.

Becker, mayor of Racine since 2003, has been accused of misconduct in public office and trying to set up a sexual liaison with a teenager, in an Internet sting operation conducted by the state. He faces more than 110 years imprisonment if convicted of all six charges against him.

In the basement of the Law Enforcement Center on Thursday, Becker's attorney, Patrick Cafferty, went into the private halls behind the courtrooms, and within two minutes had let Becker in through the locked courtroom door.

Nearly every seat in the hearing room was filled. There were more than a dozen members of the media in attendance, plus members of the Racine Police and Racine County Sheriff's departments, and interested members of the public.

When it was time for their appearance, Becker and Cafferty came into the hearing room from a back door, typically used by deputies and court staff. Becker took his seat a few minutes before his scheduled 1:30 p.m. appearance, and the case was called.

Becker sat quietly, hands on the table in front of him, tapping his right foot and his fingers occasionally.

He agreed to waive his preliminary hearing - a court proceeding where the state calls witnesses to prove that a felony was committed and that the person accused probably committed it - and Cafferty asked for an arraignment date in front of a judge.

At his Feb. 10 arraignment, Becker will enter his initial plea. From there, the case would be set for pre-trial or status conferences as it proceeds toward trial or a plea deal.

Cafferty asked Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch to reduce his client's bond, from the $165,000 cash that his family posted Wednesday afternoon, saying his client was not a flight risk or a danger to the community.

Rudebusch then set his bond at $10,000 cash, and outlined conditions he must abide by, which include not leaving Racine County, not consuming alcohol or controlled substances, having no access to computers and no unsupervised contact with minor females.

The allegations

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began Dec. 23, when a contracted city "computer help desk technician" called police after being asked to perform work on Becker's personal computer. That work is prohibited by the terms of the contract, and forms the basis of the misconduct in public office charge.

While servicing the computer, the man said he discovered about six pornographic images, possibly depicting underage females. Police got the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigations involved, and an agent searched the computer's hard drive on Jan. 7. The images and chat transcripts he found prompted him to set up a Yahoo! Messenger profile of a 14-year-old girl for the purpose of participating in chats with Becker, through that Internet service.

After a 2 1/2-hour-long chat between Becker, who was reportedly using the screen name "m reed," and "Hope_ulikeme14," the mayor had allegedly set up a meeting with the girl at Brookfield Square Mall in Brookfield.

In the chat, Becker allegedly said he would buy the girl presents at Victoria's Secret, and referenced going to a hotel room to have "lots of fun." He said seeing her would be a "lil slice of heaven."

Their age difference came up several times, according to the transcript.

Becker was arrested Tuesday night, after a DCI agent came up to him in the food court at Brookfield Square Mall about 5:30 p.m. He was jailed in Kenosha on Wednesday, until his release about 5:30 p.m. that day, after a family member posted a $165,000 cash bond.