A Waterman man pleaded guilty and was sentenced this month to possessing material that depicted child sexual abuse after a year-long investigation, court records show.

The charges were related to separate Snapchat and Kik social media accounts linked to William K. Frieders, 37, of Waterman, according to records filed in DeKalb County court.

Investigators found more than 50 files of child sexual abuse material on Frieders’ phone after a search during the investigation in October 2024, police wrote in court records.

He was charged Nov. 1, 2024, with 15 counts of unlawful possession of child sex abuse materials, a Class 2 felony.

On Sept. 9, he pleaded guilty to eight of those counts, records show. He faced up to seven years in prison. The other counts were dropped according to a plea deal struck with Frieders and the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

In exchange for the plea, Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery sentenced Frieders to 42 days in the DeKalb County Jail with credit for three days served, 24 months of probation and court-ordered psychological treatment, records show. His sentence, which began on Sept. 23, is contingent on him completing that treatment, according to the judge’s order.

Frieders is also required to register as a sex offender in Illinois and is prohibited from being near a school or space curated for children.

A DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office investigation that began in May 2023 started after authorities received a cybertip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Snapchat and Kik had reported to officials that one of their users, with a DeKalb County IP address, possessed child sexual abuse materials, records show. After an investigation, the sheriff’s deputies determined those accounts were associated with Frieders.

On Sept. 19, 2024, 18 months after the investigation began, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the West Virginia State Police. That state agency was investigating a solicitation case in which a parent discovered their 14-year-old daughter had been sent nude images from an adult male, according to court records.

Search warrants and subpoenas obtained by the West Virginia State Police show that the solicitation was associated with Frieders, deputies reported.

A search of the Illinois sex offender registry showed Frieders’ name as of Friday.