Authorities say a registered sex offender was found in possession of child pornography that he allegedly produced of a girl younger than eight years old in Winthrop Harbor.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriff’s detectives received information that Thomas Rix, 57, uploaded child pornography to a social media site.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris said the video had been sent through Facebook Messenger from one account to another.
Detectives attempted to locate Rix on Tuesday at the home he was registered to be living as a sex offender in the 100 block of Sheridan Road in Winthrop Harbor.
Covelli said Rix was not living there and detectives learned that he registered a week prior as living at a new address in the 1600 block of 2nd Avenue in Winthrop Harbor.
Detectives made contact with Rix and he agreed to meet with them at the Winthrop Harbor Police Department.
Katris said Rix admitted to uploading the explicit video, which depicted an approximately 10-year-old girl, on Facebook Messenger.
Rix also informed detectives he had actually been living in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for several days and he was not living in Winthrop Harbor — in violation of his registration requirements, Covelli said.
Members of the Illinois Attorney General’s Cybercrime Unit, who were on the scene assisting, conducted an analysis of Rix’s cell phone.
The analysis revealed multiple images Rix appeared to have taken of a girl under the age of 8, Covelli said.
Covelli said some of the images were of the girl in her underwear and at least one contained a pornographic depiction of the girl.
Detectives determined Rix knew the young girl from when he lived at a previous apartment in Winthrop Harbor and that he took the photographs at that time, Covelli said.
Investigators are seeking search warrants to conduct additional analysis on other electronics possessed by Rix.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the charge of possession of child pornography and two counts of failure to comply with sex offender registration.
“Fortunately, it appears sheriff’s detectives were able to stop this man before he committed a further horrific act on the young girl whose photos he had,” Sheriff John D. Idleburg said.
“The members of our office will tirelessly investigate and arrest those who prey on our children. We will always be relentless in our pursuit of justice, especially when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us—our children,” Idleburg said.
The state’s attorney’s office filed a petition to detain Rix in jail while awaiting trial. The petition was granted by Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak during a detention hearing on Thursday afternoon.
The child pornography charge against Rix is detainable under the state’s cashless bail law but the failure to comply with sex offender registration charges are non-detainable under the law.
The judge called it “mindboggling” that sex offenders who fail to comply with their registration cannot be held in custody. He noted that Rix has three cases involving that same charge.
A public defender for Rix requested the court to release the man pending trial on home confinement with a no electronics order.
Potkonjak said if he were to release Rix from custody he would need to get an MRI to “make sure that I hadn’t gone completely brain dead.”
Rix is scheduled to appear in court again on October 23.