A judge called an Algonquin man a “threat to all children” after he was arrested for allegedly soliciting children on Snapchat and sending them sexually explicit videos of himself.
Thomas E. Jackson, 27, of Algonquin, was charged with child pornography, grooming and four counts of distributing explicit material to a minor.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court alleges Jackson was found in possession of a video containing child sexual abuse material.
The complaint said the video depicted two young children, ages 10-13, engaged in sexual conduct.
The video was found on Jackson’s Snapchat account, the complaint said.
The complaint said Jackson used Snapchat, an online social media app, to attempt to solicit or lure a 15-year-old child to engage in sexual conduct at Jackson’s home in the 600 block of Brookside Avenue in Algonquin.
Jackson also allegedly sent an explicit photo and videos of himself to three other children through Snapchat.
The complaint said the videos sent by Jackson were of him exposing himself and performing a lewd act on himself.
The videos were sent to a 13-year-old child, a 14-year-old child and a 16-year-old child.
Court documents said Jackson engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors over social media, including sending them the explicit videos, and obtained specific information regarding their school, their schedules and their locations.
He also allegedly asked the children to send him sexually explicit material, court documents said.
Jackson was arrested on Tuesday by the Algonquin Police Department and the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial.
McHenry County Judge Cynthia Lamb granted the petition during a detention hearing on Wednesday after agreeing with prosecutors that Jackson poses a danger to the community and no pre-trial release conditions could mitigate the threat.
“GPS will not work as it keeps him away from a specific location and a specific child and the defendant is a threat to all children and the community, home confinement would not work as defendant likely committed these crimes in his home, defendant utilized social media and is unlikely he can be effectively barred from using social media if released,” Lamb said.
Jackson remains held in the McHenry County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court again on August 21 for a status of preliminary hearing.