A Fox River Grove man has admitted to attempting to get a child’s guardian to send him lewd photos of the child and to possessing obscene materials.

Ethan Lord, 24, pleaded guilty to grooming, a Class 4 felony, and to obscenity, a Class A misdemeanor, and was sentenced to two years sex offender probation on each guilty charge, to be served concurrently, court records show. He is required to register as a sex offender for 10 years, according to orders filed in McHenry County court by Judge Mark Gerhardt.

Lord also was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail, but with time served following the filing of charges and day-for-day credit, that term is considered served.

The charges to which Lord pleaded guilty are that he knowingly was in the possession of “obscene” child sex abuse materials that he intended to disseminate, court records. He also pleaded guilty to grooming in that he used an online service to communicate with a child’s guardian and attempting “to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice the child’s guardian to distribute photographs depicting [the] sex organs of the child,” according to court information filed in the case.

In detaining Lord pretrial on May 24, 2025, Judge Mark Facchini noted the “violent nature of the videos” allegedly in his possession.

He was released from jail in November after being found fit to stand trial and was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment, records show.

In exchange for his guilty plea, additional felony charges of possessing images of video depicting child sexual abuse were dismissed, records show.