Governor JB Pritzker has removed the Crystal Lake city clerk from his position on the Illinois Community College Board after the man was arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography and enticing children online.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that they began a sex crimes investigation in April following a tip from another agency.
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children provided the sheriff’s office with information received from the Internet Crimes Against Children Data System.
That information pertained to the “online enticement of children for sexual acts,” the sheriff’s office said.
Nicholas S. Kachiroubas, 45, of Crystal Lake, was identified as the offender in the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said Kachiroubas possessed child sexual abuse material and committed grooming, which is when a person uses an electronic device to seduce, lure or entice a child to commit a sex offense.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division served a search warrant at Kachiroubas’ residence in the 200 block of South Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake on Tuesday.
Kachiroubas was taken into custody as a result of the warrant and transported to the McHenry County Jail.
Kachiroubas was charged with possession of child pornography, a Class 2 felony, and grooming, a Class 4 felony.
Prosecutors in court Thursday said investigators found 14 conversations on the man’s cellphone where he was having explicit conversations with children, the Northwest Herald reported.
Prosecutors said Kachiroubas asked children for nude photographs and shared explicit photos of himself with them, the Herald reported.
Kachiroubas is the city clerk for the City of Crystal Lake and has held the position since 2009.
He is also an associate teaching professor in the School of Public Service at DePaul University in Chicago.
Kachiroubas served as a board member of the Illinois Community College Board, a position he held since 2016.
In a letter sent to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias on Friday, Governor JB Pritzker said he was removing Kachiroubas as a member of the Illinois Community College Board effective immediately.
Earlier this week, the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Kachiroubas pending trial, arguing he is a real and present threat to the safety of the community.
Kachiroubas was held in the jail and appeared for an initial appearance hearing on Thursday afternoon.
McHenry County Judge Carl Metz denied prosecutors’ petition and ordered Kachiroubas released from custody pending trial.
The judge agreed with prosecutors that Kachiroubas is a danger but claimed he was following the Illinois SAFE-T Act in releasing Kachiroubas, the Northwest Herald reported.
The offenses Kachiroubas is charged with are detainable-eligible offenses under the SAFE-T Act.