A man has been sentenced to probation after he was caught with thousands of videos and photos of child sexual abuse material while residing at a home in Grayslake where an in-house daycare was being operated.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli said sheriff’s detectives began an investigation in mid-2024 after learning videos containing child pornography were being downloaded and shared from a residence in the 1200 block of Chesterfield Lane in Grayslake.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said Facebook and Snapchat reported the incidents, which spurred the investigation.
Detectives applied for and obtained a search warrant for the home. They conducted the search warrant at the residence on July 19, 2024.
Just prior to detectives entering the home, one of the people living at the home, 54-year-old Jose Real, appeared to hide his cell phone in a potted plant, Covelli said.
Sheriff’s detectives were able to quickly find the hidden phone, which they seized.
Detectives conducted a forensic examination of the phone, which required bypassing the phone’s passcode.
Covelli said over 1,000 videos and images of child pornography, some of which involved children as young as infants, were located on the phone.
“Based on the evidence, they determined Real was responsible for downloading and sharing the child pornography videos,” Covelli said.
McConnell said somewhere between 1,500 and 3,000 videos and photos of child pornography were identified in the man’s possession at the time of his arrest.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Real for three counts of possession of child pornography, Class 2 felonies.
Real was arrested by sheriff’s deputies on July 31, 2024, without incident. He was later charged with seven additional counts of the felony offense.
Detectives learned during the investigation that Real’s family member runs a daycare out of the same home he was living in, Covelli said.
The recovered material was not believed to be of the children who were being supervised at the home.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office asked the community to speak to their children about inappropriate touching and grooming. “If you feel your child has been victimized, please contact your local law enforcement agency.”
McConnell said Real was suspected of having also distributed explicit material through Telegram and WhatsApp but he was never charged with distribution.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Real in custody while awaiting trial and the request was granted following a detention hearing.
McConnell said that Real was interviewed following his arrest and admitted to watching the child pornography, saying that “everyone does it.”
McConnell called it a “horrific offense” and said Real is “clearly a threat to children” in arguing for his detainment.
Real was later released from the Lake County Jail by a different judge and placed on pre-trial conditions in November 2024.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was alerted to the situation and the daycare was not allowed to operate while the investigation was underway. The daycare’s current status is unknown.
Court records show Real entered into a negotiated plea deal with the state’s attorney’s office this week.
He pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography, a Class 2 felony, in exchange for a 95-day jail sentence and 30 months of probation.
The jail sentence was considered served upon the plea because of credit for time he had already served.
Real was also ordered not to consume alcohol or drugs, be subject to random testing, undergo a sex offender evaluation and recommended treatment, not use the internet, have no contact with children and register as a sex offender.