Harvard employee Nicholas Lopez faces 4.5-year sentence
The 45-year-old was sentenced in McHenry County after pleading guilty to possessing child sex abuse material.
By Yara Nasser ·
Nicholas A. Lopez, 45, will spend four and a half years in prison. The Harvard employee pleaded guilty on Nov. 6 to one count of possessing child sex abuse material. Judge Mark Gerhardt signed the sentencing order in the McHenry County courthouse. The charge was a Class 2 felony.
Lopez was arrested and appeared in court for the first time in February. Judge Cynthia Lamb ordered him held in the county jail before trial. She determined that Lopez posed a threat to the community. The judge noted that his possession created a demand for the continuous creation of illegal content.
Initial charges listed 10 separate videos depicting children younger than 13. Court records indicate Lopez held many other explicit videos, files, and photographs of minors. Some subjects were under 13, while others were under 18. Lamb stated that additional devices contained hundreds or thousands of artifacts of child sexual abuse material.
Lopez used encrypted software to protect the hard drive on his laptop. He also owned a tower computer and multiple external hard drives. One specific drive held a large collection of movies depicting prepubescent females. The judge found that Lopez kept the materials hidden from his wife and other adults in the home. He stored food, drinks, a bottle of lotion, and baby wipes near the area where he viewed the files.
Gerhardt dismissed additional counts in the final order. Lopez must register as a sex offender for life. He will receive credit for 266 days already spent in the county jail. He must serve half of his prison term. The remaining period consists of three years to natural life of mandatory supervised release.
