St. Charles man on sex offender registry charged with sharing child sexual abuse images

A St. Charles man was charged with eight counts each of dissemination and possession of child sexual abuse images and two counts of failing to update his sex offender registration, according to a joint news release from the Kane County State’s Attorney and Sheriff’s offices.

Corey J. McDonald, 29, was arrested July 14 and is currently being held in the Kane County jail, authorities said.

State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser alleged that in January 2025, McDonald disseminated multiple images containing child sexual abuse material to a chat group on the instant messaging platform Kik, according to the release.

The Kane County Child Exploitation Unit conducted the investigation. The unit is a collaboration of the State’s Attorney’s and Sheriff’s offices launched in 2022 to keep Illinois children safe from sexual exploitation, according to the release.

The investigation of McDonald began as result of a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the release.

According to the state sex offender registry, McDonald’s offense was possession of sexual abuse images of victims younger than 13. McDonald was also listed as a lifetime registrant as of Aug. 7, 2021. The registry also shows McDonald’s most recent registration was July 12.

Court records show that McDonald was charged Sept. 20, 2019 with 17 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse images of victims under age 13.

McDonald pleaded guilty to one count on Aug. 6, 2021 and the rest of the charges were not prosecuted. McDonald was released on 24 months of specialized probation for sex offenders, records show.

Prosecutors filed court papers May 31, 2023 alleging that he violated the terms of his probation by not participating in psychological evaluations. The case was continued until March 12 of this year, when the petition to revoke his probation was withdrawn, court records show.

The most serious charges McDonald currently faces are the eight alleging dissemination of child sexual images, which are Class 1 felonies, punishable by four to 15 years in prison and fines up to $25,000, or up to 48 months of probation, if convicted.

McDonald is scheduled to appear in court July 24.