Sex offender charged in Will County with child pornography possession

A sex offender again has been charged in Will County with possession of child pornography.

About 6 a.m. Thursday, Mark Hnat, 40, who lives in the Joliet area of Plainfield Township, was taken to the Will County jail on four counts of child pornography. Hnat previously was convicted of child pornography in 2016.

A criminal complaint alleged Hnat was in possession of child pornography images on April 6, 2023.

Following an investigation by Illinois State Police, Judge Art Smigielski signed a warrant for Hnat’s arrest that carried a $250,000 bond.

In 2016, Will County Chief Judge Dan Kennedy, who was not chief judge at the time, sentenced Hnat to 36 months of sex offender probation after he pleaded guilty to child pornography possession, court records show.

Hnat is a registered sex offender, according to Illinois State Police.