Stillman Valley man wanted for failure to appear in child porn case

OREGON – The Ogle County sheriff and Ogle-Lee Crimestoppers are looking for a Stillman Valley man charged last year with 10 counts of disseminating or possessing child pornography.

Joshua Lake, who turns 29 on Nov. 17, was found not fit to stand trial March 3 and was undergoing court-ordered treatment, with the expectation that such treatment would render him fit, court records show. He last appeared in court Aug. 18 and failed to return for his next fitness hearing Aug. 30.

Lake was indicted May 4, 2021, in Ogle County Court on two counts of disseminating child pornography, and eight counts of possessing it. He was arrested as part of a 2018 Illinois State Police investigation with the Attorney General’s Hi-Tech Crime Bureau, which had identified child pornography being shared out of Stillman Valley, investigators said at the time.

According to the indictment, all charges involve videos or, in one case, a photo, of children younger than 13 having sex with or engaged in other sex acts with adults and/or other children, including an infant.

Dissemination is punishable by six to 30 years in prison with no possibility of parole, a fine of $1,000 to $100,000 and three years of supervised release.

Possession is punishable by three to seven years on each count, a fine of up to $100,000 and three years of supervised release.

Each term levied must be served consecutively.

Lake, who is represented by Rockford attorney Paul M. Marriett, was free after posting $3,000 of his bond, which had been reduced to $30,000 from $50,000.

Bond now is set at $500,000.

Lake is white, 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, with brown hair and glasses.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call the sheriff’s office at 815-732-2136, or the anonymous reward hotline at 888-228-4488. Information leading to an arrest and conviction can bring up to $1,000.