Man Gets Probation for Child Porn Found on His Computer

A 48-year-old man pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography Monday in exchange for a sentence of probation.

Kevin F. Plachta, 48, who lives in Joliet but has a Plainfield address, could have been sentenced up to five years in prison for having images of children between the ages of 3 and 8 on his computer, a report in the Chicago Sun-Times said.

Plachta admitted that curiosity prompted him to seek out child pornography, which police found on his computer, the story said. When he was arrested in 2008, however, he told police his computer had been infected by a virus that put child porn into his files without his consent.

Will County Circuit Judge Edward Burmila signed off on the plea deal Plachta's attorney reached with prosecutors, the story said. While sentencing him to 2.5 years of intensive probation, Burmila lectured Plachta on the “incalculable” damage caused by child pornography.

“There is no room for error on your part,” said Burmila, who warned he would send him to prison for any violation of his probation, the story said.

According to records, Plachta became licensed as an attorney in 1989 but said in 2008 that he no longer practices law.

In 2003, his law license was suspended for three months by the Illinois Supreme Court after it was proven he had neglected three client matters, made misrepresentations to the clients about the status of their matters and created a false court document to cause a client to believe a matter was pending, the Illinois State Bar Association told the Sun-Times.