A Lake Forest children’s baseball and basketball coach was arrested after investigators found he was in possession of nearly 700 child pornography files, prosecutors said.
Jarrett F. Malec, 25, of Round Lake, was charged with three counts of child pornography.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Francis DeRosa said a cyber tip was reported to the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in December 2021.
It was reported that a user uploaded three files containing child pornography through an Iowa State University Dropbox account, DeRosa said.
The case was transferred to the Round Lake Police Department in April 2022.
Detectives went to Malec’s home last month and informed him they investigating the tip.
Malec told detectives he works as a 12U coach for baseball and basketball in Lake Forest, DeRosa said.
Malec graduated from Iowa State University and is attending Northeastern Illinois University with plans of becoming a PE teacher.
DeRosa said Malec admitted he may have had a picture of an underage child on his Dropbox account.
Malec said he downloaded explicit photos and videos of children through Reddit, according to DeRosa.
He voluntarily turned over his electronic devices to the police and also admitted to trading child pornography through an app, DeRosa said.
DeRosa said investigators found one file alone with 692 videos and photos of sexually explicit material involving children.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak signed an arrest warrant for Malec earlier this month.
Matthew Gebhardt, an attorney for Malec, said in court that his client is undergoing mental health treatment.
Malec was “very cooperative” with detectives, Gebhardt said in asking for a lower bond.
Potkonjak set bond at $500,000 and Malec was released from the Lake County Jail after posting 10% of the bond.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 21.