DeKalb County sex offender faces new charges

SYCAMORE – A sex offender who avoided prison time on a child pornography conviction could face prison time without possibility of probation after police said he has bounced between addresses in DeKalb and Sycamore without registering in timely manner.

Thomas A. Holbrook, 48, of the 1400 block of Twombly Road, has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender, punishable by three to seven years in prison.

Police said in court records that on Oct. 5, Holbrook tried to change his address to a house in the 400 block of East State Street, but that he’d been living there more than three days. Police said Holbrook then told them Oct. 13 that he’d moved back to his Twombly Road address, but that notification came more than three days after he’d already been moved back in there.

Illinois law requires that convicted sex offenders re-register within three days of moving into a property.

“It’s just a continued nightmare of administrative decisions and requirements,” DeKalb County Public Defender Tom McCulloch said after Holbrook’s bond hearing Tuesday.

Holbrook pleaded guilty in August 2014 to child pornography possession so prosecutors would drop the more serious charge of producing child pornography, in a deal that enabled him to avoid a prison sentence that ranged from six to 30 years in prison.

Holbrook was accused of persuading a girl who appeared in chat videos to expose herself to him in August 2013, court records show.

In a separate case alleging blackmail, he also was sentenced to a year of probation for making false information and unlawful acts concerning computers in Kansas.

Judge Philip Montgomery ordered that Holbrook be released on his signature.

He’s due back in court at 9 a.m. Dec. 28.