Calling him a “parent’s worst nightmare,” a Lake County Judge ordered the detention of a Mundelein man accused of having hundreds of pictures of child pornography on his phone.
However, prosecutors said during the detention hearing for Alexis Chavez, 23, that the Mundelein man revealed gruesome details on social media of “looking for a random child to rape” and how Chavez was looking for a babysitting job so he could “groom a child.”
Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Lillian Lewis also said Chavez boasted on social media of assaulting a 4-year-old child in another state and how he was looking to sexually assault an infant.
“The evidence shows a threat to the community in, of course, many different ways,” Lewis said. “But, what is most concerning to the state is he is discussing his plan to kidnap and sexually assault a random child, this being an infant child, and that rape would potentially result in the child’s death.”
Lewis said during the detention hearing Tuesday afternoon in front of Lake County Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak that Chavaz had hundreds of pictures in his phone of grown men having sex with children ranging in age from infant to 13.
She said the photos were obtained by Chavez between June of 2022 and January of 2024 and that the Mundelein man had disseminated videos through social media through March of 2024.
Lewis added in court there was no way to monitor, curtail or protect the public because Chavez carried out the pornography crimes while using his cell phone in his own home on internet apps that could be downloaded and utilized from anywhere in the world.
“Quite frankly, there are no pretrial conditions that would stop him from both violating and continuing to carry out these acts,” Lewis said.
Potkonjak deemed Chavez a real and present danger to the people of Lake County and ordered Chavez detained in Lake County jail until trial.
“I’m looking at the information, there are 20 different counts … of possession of child pornography,” Potkonjak said. “But, I’m guessing if you add up everyone of them, it wouldn’t be 20 counts, it would be hundreds.”
Potkoniak went on to say the disturbing statements uncovered on Chavez’s social media apps are extremely detrimental to the safety of the people of Lake County.
“You got the child pornography then, coupled with it being … well, I don’t even know how to describe it … disturbing plans he’s making, it appears the possession and dissemination of child pornography is the foundation and his thoughts are escalating to more than just watching and disseminating,” Potkonjak said. “Where he actually talks about – in his sick mind – kidnapping a 4-year-old and raping it.”
Chavez, of the 200 block of North Greenview Avenue in Mundelein, is currently charged with 20 class two counts of possession of child pornography with victims ranging from infant to 13 years of age, court records show.
Chavez is also facing one class X felony count of reproduction of child pornography after police determined evidence Chavez shared pornographic videos of children through his social media accounts, police said.
Chavez is facing decades in prison if convicted on all counts at trial, court records show.
Mundelein Police launched an investigation into Chavez after they were notified by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC) that Chavez was in possession of child pornography.
Police said an arrest warrant was issued by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last week and Chavez was taken into custody at a Mundelein business without incident May 24.
Police said Chavez’s cellular phone was seized and a forensic analysis showed he was in possession of hundreds of images containing child pornography with victims ranging from infant to 13 years of age.
There was no evidence Chavez was involved in any illegal physical interactions with any children at the time of his arrest, police said.
Chavez appeared briefly in front of Lake County Associate Judge Ari Fisz Saturday where he was ordered held in Lake County jail pending the detention hearing Tuesday afternoon.
He is due back in court on June 25.