A now-former Lake Forest children’s baseball and basketball coach has been sentenced to probation after investigators found he was in possession of nearly 700 child pornography files.
Jarrett F. Malec, 26, of Round Lake, was charged in August 2023 with multiple counts of child pornography, a Class 2 felony.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Francis DeRosa said at the time that 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 were investigating the tip.
Malec told detectives at the time that he worked as a 12U coach for baseball and basketball in Lake Forest, DeRosa said.
Malec graduated from Iowa State University and was attending Northeastern Illinois University with plans of becoming a PE teacher when he was arrested.
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.
Prosecutors never filed additional charges against him for distribution, court records show.
DeRosa said investigators found one folder alone with 692 videos and photos of sexually explicit material involving children.
Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak signed an arrest warrant for Malec and set his bond at $500,000.
Matthew Gebhardt, an attorney for Malec, said at an initial court hearing that his client was undergoing mental health treatment.
Malec was “very cooperative” with detectives, Gebhardt said during the hearing.
Malec was released from the Lake County Jail after posting 10% of the bond and has been out of custody since.
Court records show he entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.
Malec pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography, a Class 2 felony, and was sentenced to 30 months of probation and 100 hours of public service.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender, not possess weapons, not consume alcohol or drugs, obtain an evaluation and attend any programs as a result of the evaluation.
Malec was additionally ordered to have no internet use and pay court costs and fines.