A former Lake in the Hills taekwondo instructor, who is a Huntley resident, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for possessing and distributing thousands of images of child pornography.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) notified the Huntley Police Department in June 2023 about information that was obtained from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) data system.
An unidentified internet subscriber was flagged for possibly possessing child pornography, according to Huntley Deputy Police Chief Linda Hooten.
Prosecutors said the ICAC tip was regarding the exchange of videos containing child pornography via Snapchat.
The Huntley Police Department Investigations Division conducted a four-month investigation that led to the identification of the offender, Allen Q. Nguyen, 30, of Huntley.
Police detectives and the Kane County Child Exploitation Unit served a search warrant in the early morning hours on October 24, Hooten said.
Hooten said the warrant was executed at a residence in the 10400 block of Auburn Court in Huntley where Nguyen was renting a room.
Multiple electronic devices were located containing thousands of videos and images of child pornography, prosecutors said.
Court records show the material recovered involved sexually explicit videos of children, some under the age of 13.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court said Nguyen disseminated the explicit material.
Nguyen was taken into custody and transported to the McHenry County Jail.
He was charged with four counts of child pornography, two of which are Class X felonies and the other two are Class 2 felonies.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Nguyen when he was arrested, calling him a real and present danger to the community as well as a willful flight risk.
A judge granted the petition to hold Nguyen in jail pending trial.
Prosecutors said at the time that Nguyen admitted to disseminating thousands of images of child pornography.
Prosecutors also said that there were reports of Nguyen being involved in “inappropriate physical contact” with minors, which was under investigation. No additional charges for those allegations were filed.
Nguyen said in an affidavit filed in court that he was employed at the time of his arrest at Ha’s Taekwondo Academy, 421 North Randall Road in Lake in the Hills.
Court records show Nguyen entered into a negotiated plea deal with the state’s attorney’s office this week.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of child pornography, one being a Class X felony and the other being a Class 2 felony.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt approved the plea on Friday and sentenced Nguyen to 18 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections — 12 years for the Class X charge and six years for the Class 2 charge — pursuant to the agreement.
The sentences will be served consecutively and Nguyen is entitled to day-for-day credit. He will have to register as a sex offender for life upon release.