An Island Lake man has pleaded guilty to possessing and disseminating a video of a child younger than 13 being sexually abused and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Lawrence M. Root, 51, is required to serve half of his jail time followed by three years to life of mandatory supervised release, authorities said. Root is required to register as a sex offender for life, prosecutors said.

At his first court appearance in June, at which he was detained in the county jail pretrial, prosecutors said he possessed thousands of videos of children being sexually abused. He agreed with a detective that his “compulsion” for watching such material is “like an addiction to smoking cigarettes,” according to information presented in court before McHenry County Judge Michael Zasadil.

In exchange for Root’s guilty plea, additional counts of possessing and reproducing videos of child sex abuse were dismissed. All images involved children younger than 13, documents show.

Had he been convicted on all counts, he would have spent decades in prison.

During Root’s first court appearance, Assistant State’s Attorney Garrett Miller said that even if Root did not create the images, he is a “willing and enthusiastic audience” in “watching and consuming it.” The prosecutor also said watching such materials is the same as “partaking in the actual acts.”

Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger responded by calling that “a complete overstatement and ridiculous.”

The images that Root initially was accused of viewing included “sadistic, masochistic or sadomasochistic“ videos of toddlers and children being sexually assaulted by adults, some tied up, gagged and crying, according to authorities and the complaint.

Miller referred to a statement made by a seasoned detective whose job is to investigate those consuming such materials. The detective said that what Root had were “among the worst [he has] ever seen.”

Root is receiving credit for 141 days spent in the county jail.