Crystal Lake mom testifies couple hid cameras to protect daughter from harming herself

A Crystal Lake woman whose husband admitted he secretly videotaped her daughter said their home was in “chaos” and they were trying to protect the 16-year-old.

Corinne E. Breskovich, 44, testified Thursday at the sentencing hearing of her husband Christopher Hopp, 41.

In June, Hopp pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing 50 to 200 grams of psilocybin, a Class 1 felony, and unauthorized video recording, a Class 4 felony. Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence, Hopp’s attorney is asking for probation.

In exchange for Hopp’s guilty plea, more serious, Class X felonies of creating images of child sex abuse were dismissed. Counts of possessing images of child sex abuse and unlawfully possessing a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, a Taurus PT22 pistol, a Remington long rifle, a Ruger Security-Six revolver, ammunition and shotgun shells also were dismissed, according to court testimony and documents.

Breskovich was also charged with the drug and gun charges. On April 3, 2024, Breskovich pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver 50 to 200 grams of psilocybin and sentenced to two years probation, records in her file said. She was not charged in connection with secretly filming the videos.

On Thursday, the first day of Hopp’s sentencing hearing, more than 30 people were present showing support for Hopp. Breskovich testified that she had foraged for a wide range of mushrooms since she was a child with her grandparents. It was a “hobby” that also included growing vegetable and flower gardens, she said.

Breskovich said she began growing psilocybin mushrooms around 2021 or 2022 after learning it would help with her mental health.

“There was a lot of stress in the family at the time,” she said. However, when her husband learned she was growing the psychedelic mushrooms, she said, he told her to get rid of them.

Breskovich said she knew he was secretly filming her daughter. During this time, the teen had attempted suicide, been hospitalized multiple times for her mental health, was medicated, lying, had tattooed herself and pierced her face and was self-mutilating, Breskovich said. The girl has since died of an accidental overdose, her mother said.

The girl had attempted suicide by taking pills in late 2022. Ten days later, on Jan. 6, 2023, the girl found a pen camera in her bathroom after showering, Breskovich said.

“Her behaviors were escalating,” Breskovich said. “We were hitting crisis mode.”

Breskovich said no one took them seriously that things were “spirling” and they needed help. The couple was told to have the girl under 24-hour surveillance; so they turned to secretly videotaping her, Breskovich said. Initially, the couple had installed cameras that were not secret, but those were being disconnected.

“The pen cam was [our] last-ditch effort,” Breskovich said.

“We were very proactive, working with school, therapists, hospitals,” she said. “We worked together. ... He loves [the girl]. He was a father to her. We were trying to keep her alive. We asked for help. [Hopp] helped. We were a family in it but, yes, we were struggling. ... There was chaos going on in our house.”

A detective testified the video captured images of the girl in states of undress. Segments of the video where she is covered with a towel, then clothes, were played in court.

Hopp is also seen setting up the pen camera on a counter in the Jack-and-Jill-type bathroom, facing a door separating the space from where she was actually showering.

After showering, she opened the door into that space and is seen noticing the camera. She appeared to be in shock and froze up as she looked at the device, which she took a photo of. After she dressed and left the bathroom, Hopp is seen coming back in and taking the pen camera.

That night the girl told a friend, the friend’s mother and her biological father about the camera, and police were notified. Prosecutors also played a video of the girl being interviewed the next day by a forensic interviewer at McHenry County Children’s Advocacy Center.

The girl told the interviewer about her mental health struggles, suicide attempts, tumultuous relationships with her mother and Hopp and about finding the camera. She said she was in “shock” and feared there had been cameras in her bedroom and more videos of her.

“It was freaking me out,” the girl said. “I felt really unsafe and unsettled.”

She said she didn’t wake her mom that night because she would have yelled at her and told her she’s crazy. She feared telling authorities because, the girl said, her mom and Hopp would be angry with her.

The girl said she was thinking if she reported it “It’s going to be another level of turning my life upside down, another level of pissing them off. ... They’ll do what they always do, blame it on my mental health and talk their way out of it.”

Earlier in the hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito read an impact statement from the girl’s biological father who lives in another state and was observing the hearing via Zoom. He said after Hopp was charged, his daughter was living with him. She told her dad she felt betrayed and was relieved that “someone finally listened, ... believed me.”

However, he said his daughter’s heart was broken because her family relationships had been broken, including with her mom.

“She would cry and ask why they would side with” Hopp, the father said. “There is no reason for any hidden cameras ... in an area to videotape a child; no reason to sell drugs in a home where [someone] had drug problems. To betray her in such a perverse fashion is unacceptable, in my opinion.”

The sentencing hearing is due to continue Aug. 8.