McHenry man sentenced to 10 years for possessing child pornography, tells judge ‘I’m not a bad person’

A 31-year-old McHenry man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

David P. Stone, who was initially charged with 20 counts child pornography, pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to reproduction of child pornography, a class X felony, and possession of child pornography, a class 2 felony.

The other counts were dismissed by prosecutors as part of the negotiated plea, court records show.

The most serious offense – reproduction of child pornography – carried a possible sentence of six to 30 years in prison.

Stone was arrested in 2020 as part of a pornography investigation by the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s investigators, with the assistance of the McHenry Police Department and the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office, searched Stone’s home and arrested him after they discovered “evidence of alleged child pornography,” according to press release at the time.

In court Wednesday, Shannon O’Brien, an assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois, said Stone admitted to investigators he was in possession of child pornography, which was found on a tablet and thumb drives in his home. He had visited various websites and the dark web for child pornography, she said.

Stone is accused of possessing multiple sexually explicit videos or photographs of children younger than 13 years old, according to a criminal complaint filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

When McHenry County Judge James Cowlin asked Stone if he wanted to make a statement at his hearing Wednesday, he said, “I am not a bad person. I am very sorry. I didn’t hurt anyone.”

Upon release from prison, Stone will have “sexual predator” status on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry, for which he’ll have to register for life, O’Brien said.

He will also serve a mandatory supervised release of three years to life, O’Brien said.

The length of the mandatory supervised release is determined by the Illinois Department of Corrections’ Prisoner Review Board, which looks in part at his behavior while in prison.

He also is required to pay more than $8,500 in fines and fees, Cowlin said.

He will receive credit for the 841 days he’s spent in McHenry County jail since his arrest and is required to serve at least 50% of the 10-year sentence.