A judge has sentenced a man, who lives across the street from a school in Crystal Lake, to 10 years in prison for befriending two children, convincing at least one that they were dating and soliciting sexual material from them.
David Kurth, 32, of Crystal Lake, was charged in October with one count of soliciting child pornography, a Class 1 felony, and grooming, a Class 4 felony.
A criminal complaint filed in McHenry County Circuit Court said Kurth solicited child pornography from August 2023 to October 2024 from a female child.
Kurth knew the child was under 18 when he enticed her to send him the photographs depicting her sex organs, the complaint said.
The complaint said he also engaged in a romantic and sexually explicit relationship.
Court documents said Kurth befriended the 14-year-old girl and used several different phone numbers, emails and social media accounts to solicit the nude photographs.
Court documents said Kurth also sent nude photos of himself to the victim while grooming her and coercing her into sending the nude photos and videos to him.
Kurth reportedly convinced the child that they were in a dating relationship.
The Crystal Lake Police Department began investigating Kurth after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Investigators were able to trace an uploaded file that contained child sex abuse material to Kurth’s address in Crystal Lake, prosecutors said.
Investigative efforts into Kurth’s electronic devices and online Dropbox records revealed that he had communicated with two children, one in Massachusetts and the other in New Jersey, prosecutors said.
Both juveniles were interviewed, reported that Kurth had met them online and persuaded them to send sexually explicit material to him, despite knowing they were underage.
Kurth lives in the 500 block of Cress Creek Court in Crystal Lake, which is located on the corner of St. Andrews Lane and Creek Creek Lane, next to Lundahl Middle School.
At the time of the offense, Kurth was out on bond in two felony child pornography cases from 2021, court records show.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Kurth pending trial, arguing he poses a danger to the community, and McHenry County Judge Cynthia Lamb granted the petition following a detention hearing.
“There are no conditions or combination of conditions that can mitigate the threat of harm to the safety of any persons or persons in the community. This defendant out on bond in similar cases and committed this offense knowingly that he was violating the law,” Lamb said.
Court records show Kurth, who has remained held in the McHenry County Jail, entered into a negotiated plea deal with the state’s attorney’s office this week.
He pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation of child pornography, a Class X felony, and one count of possession of child pornography, a Class 1 felony.
Kurth was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison for the first charge and four years in prison for the second charge pursuant to the agreement. The sentences will be served consecutively for a total of 10 years.
“Crimes involving the exploitation of children are among the most disturbing offenses our office prosecutes. Those who seek out or solicit child sexual abuse material fuel the continued victimization of innocent children,” McHenry County State’s Attorney Randi Freese said.
“We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to aggressively investigate and prosecute these offenses to protect children and our community,” Freese added.