A resident of unincorporated McHenry was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday, July 21, 2024 after court proceedings and after investigators served a search warrant in February 2023 and discovered Justin Ralph Griletz had disseminated child pornography online.
Initially in August 2022, The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children notified the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office regarding incriminating information from the Internet Crimes Against Children data system.
The report indicated possible possession of child pornography.
A McHenry County Sheriff’s Office cyber-investigation in October 2022 (which included assistance from National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office) revealed the identity of the offender, Justin Ralph Griletz, and the discovery of evidence of possession and dissemination of child pornography, according to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Members of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division served the search warrant and arrest warrant early in the morning on February 9, 2023, in the block of 4800 William Street in unincorporated McHenry near Johnsburg and Pistakee Lake.
Griletz was taken into custody and charged with …
dissemination of child pornography, a Class X felony,
two counts of possession of child pornography, a Class 2 felony,
possession of child pornography, a Class 3 felony, and
failure to register as a sex offender.
Griletz, age 39, 5’08” and 350 LBS, was transported to the McHenry County Jail. He was booked at 8:28 a.m. February 9, 2023, was held on $300,000 bond, and has been detained pre-trial since his arrest.
Court proceedings included multiple hearings in February, March, April, May, July, August, October, November, and December 2023; and January, February, April, May and June 2024 (sentencing June 21, 2024).
Griletz pleaded guilty in a negotiated plea deal to one count of dissemination of child pornography, a Class X felony. The charge involved an image of sexual abuse of a child younger than 13 (a Class X felony). Griletz admitted to disseminating a video of child sex abuse.
His other charges, which involved children younger than age 13, and one younger than age 18 were dismissed.
A charge related to a 2006 sex offense when Griletz was a juvenile, that also involved the failure to register as a sex offender, was also dismissed.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt approved the plea, and sentenced Griletz to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections prison system. Judge Gerhardt gave credit for time served in McHenry County Jail since his arrest in February 2023.
Griletz is required to serve 50% of his sentence, which will be resolved to less than 5 years.
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