A former Crystal Lake city clerk has pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse material after prosecutors said he additionally was found to be enticing children online.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said in June 2024 that they began a sex crimes investigation in April 2024 following a tip from another agency.
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children provided the sheriff’s office with information received from the Internet Crimes Against Children Data System.
That information pertained to the “online enticement of children for sexual acts,” the sheriff’s office said.
Nicholas Kachiroubas, 46, of Crystal Lake, was identified as the offender in the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said Kachiroubas possessed child sexual abuse material and committed grooming, which is when a person uses an electronic device to seduce, lure or entice a child to commit a sex offense.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division served a search warrant at Kachiroubas’ residence in the 200 block of South Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake in June 2024.
Kachiroubas was taken into custody as a result of the warrant and transported to the McHenry County Jail.
Kachiroubas was charged with possession of child pornography, a Class 2 felony, and numerous counts of grooming, a Class 4 felony.
Prosecutors in court said investigators found 14 conversations on the man’s cellphone where he was having explicit conversations with children, the Northwest Herald reported.
Prosecutors said Kachiroubas asked children for nude photographs and shared explicit photos of himself with them, the Herald reported.
Kachiroubas was the city clerk for the City of Crystal Lake at the time of his arrest and had held the position since 2009.
His elected term ended on April 30, 2025, and Crystal Lake changed the position to an appointed one following his arrest.
Kachiroubas was also an associate teaching professor in the School of Public Service at DePaul University in Chicago.
Kachiroubas served as a board member of the Illinois Community College Board, a position he held since 2016.
In a letter sent to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias following his arrest, Governor JB Pritzker said he was removing Kachiroubas as a member of the Illinois Community College Board effective immediately.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Kachiroubas pending trial, arguing he was a real and present threat to the safety of the community, but McHenry County Judge Carl Metz denied the petition and ordered Kachiroubas released from custody pending trial.
Court records show Kachiroubas pleaded guilty last Friday to one count of child pornography, a Class 2 felony, which is the most serious charge against him.
He faces three to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections but could also be sentenced to probation.
Kachiroubas is set to be sentenced on November 20.