A Chicago man, who is a convicted sex offender, allegedly solicited sexually explicit material from a child in Lake in the Hills while grooming the girl through Snapchat.
Christopher S. Griffith, 32, of Chicago, was charged with four counts of child pornography, child sex offender communicating through internet, indecent solicitation of a child and grooming.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Griffith on November 7 discussed acts of sexual conduct with a child under the age of 13 through the internet.
Griffith is a registered child sex offender, the complaint said, adding that he violated the law by communicating with a child online.
The complaint said Griffith sent the child a video of an adult male engaged in a sex act in an effort to entice her to send him back photos and videos of herself.
Griffith used Snapchat while soliciting and enticing the child to distribute the explicit photographs and videos of herself to him, the complaint said.
Griffith was paroled from the Illinois Department of Corrections on October 10 following a four-year sentence for criminal sexual assault that occurred in 2012 in Hancock County.
The Lake in the Hills Police Department investigated the case and arrested Griffith on December 27.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Griffith pending trial, calling him a real and present threat to the safety of the community.
McHenry County Judge Michael Zasadil granted the petition on December 28 and remanded Griffith to the McHenry County Jail.
Court records show prosecutors have filed a motion to revoke Griffith’s phone and tablet privileges while in custody.
Prosecutors said they became aware on January 6 that Griffith had been communicating with a 14-year-old child over the phone while in custody.
Investigators learned the girl was also communicating with Griffith through Snapchat around the same time he and the other child victim were communicating over Snapchat, prosecutors said.
Griffith spoke with the second child multiple times on December 29 and December 30 from the jail, prosecutors said.
They discussed how Griffith was running out of money to pay for more jail calls and Griffith told the girl she should sell sexually explicit videos of herself on the internet to raise money for him while providing detailed instructions, prosecutors said.
Griffith is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday for a hearing on the state’s motion.