The former Crystal Lake city clerk was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison and is required to register as a sex offender for life for possessing an image of child sex abuse.

Nicholas S. Kachiroubas, 46, entered into a negotiated guilty plea Nov. 7 to the Class 2 felony in front of Judge Mark Gerhardt and was remanded into the custody of the McHenry County jail Thursday.

Prosecutors dismissed remaining counts, which were Class 4 felonies that carry lesser prison time, and would have been served concurrently. Therefore would not have added anymore time to his prison term, based on Illinois law, prosecutors said.

Kachiroubas pleaded guilty to the highest charge he faced, and that conviction also could have been punishable by probation. After serving prison time, he also will serve three years to life of mandatory supervised release and will be a registered sex offender for life, Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito said.

On March 30, 2024, Kachiroubas filed a police report with Crystal Lake police saying that he faced “threats of extortion through Snapchat after exchanging illicit photographs with two other Snapchat users,” according to a news release issued by the McHenry County State’s Office following the sentencing Thursday. Kachiroubas’ own police report of the alleged extortion prompted a forensic investigation that ultimately lead to his own arrest.

On April, 4, 2024, The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children through DePaul University’s Office of Public Safety. Kachiroubas had worked at DePaul as an associate professor. The report came from an unidentified high school student who lived out of state who “reported inappropriate online enticement through Snapchat from a person who identified as a DePaul University professor,” prosecutors said.

Further investigation led to Kachiroubas being identified as that professor, authorities said. Investigators found he possessed one image of child sex abuse stored in his Snapchat account.

“Several conversations where he unsuccessfully attempted to solicit photographs of Snapchat users who purported to be underage” also were found on his Snapchat account, prosecutors said.

Kachiroubas, who has no criminal history, is receiving credit for 518 days wearing an electronic monitoring device and is required to serve half his prison time, Gerhardt said.