Chicago Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Possessing Child Pornography
A 30-year-old Chicago man, Julio Rodriguez, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for possessing child pornography after his parole agent caught him engaging in a sexual video call with a 14-year-old girl, court records reveal.
In 2022, Rodriguez faced a 20-count child pornography indictment but ultimately pleaded guilty to a single count on August 16, 2024, receiving a three-year sentence from Judge Michael Clancy. However, with a 50% sentence reduction and credit for time on an ankle monitor, Rodriguez served no prison time, entering and exiting Stateville Correctional Center on August 20, 2024.
Less than three months later, on December 5, a parole agent visited Rodriguez’s halfway house in the 8100 block of South Cottage Grove after he failed to report his living arrangements as required. The agent discovered Rodriguez engaged in a sexual act on a video call with a young girl, believed to be 14 years old. Rodriguez admitted to the girl’s age after initially claiming she was his “girlfriend.” Prosecutors later found over 100 illegal images and 40 videos of children on an unregistered phone in his possession, along with additional illegal images on a registered phone. Rodriguez also had multiple unreported social media accounts on various platforms.
During an interview with a Chicago police detective, Rodriguez confessed to engaging in sexual conversations with girls aged 14 to 16 on Discord and other websites, including explicit comments and requests to the 14-year-old girl in question. These interactions were corroborated through recovered Discord chats by investigators.
Subsequently, Judge Michael McHale imposed a nine-year sentence on Rodriguez, with an expected release date of June 5, 2029, after serving half of the term, according to state records.
