An Oak Forest man was sentenced to six years in state prison last week after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography, according to court records.
Thomas P. Schickel pleaded guilty to the charge in Cook County court on Nov. 9 and was sentenced the same day, court records state.
Schickel, 37, was charged in September 2015 after investigators in Oak Forest found more than 65 child pornography images on his cellphone, including pictures of nude high school girls, authorities said. At that time, Schickel also was charged with charged with solicitation of child pornography and inducing another to provide child pornography.
According to authorities, Schickel was investigated by Oak Forest detectives and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force operating on a report from a southwest suburban high school student.
Several 16- and 17-year-old girls sent numerous nude photos of themselves in private group electronic messages to each other, authorities said. Schickel had obtained some of the images.
Schickel had been part of that text message exchange that began in September 2012 where the teens also discussed school and their social lives, authorities said.
The text messages continued until March 2015, when one of the girls talked to the dean at her school about what was happening, authorities said.
Schickel allegedly used threats to force a relative to keep asking for nude photos of her friends, authorities said.
One of the teen girls confronted Schickel’s relatives about the images, and the relative then confessed to the coercion, authorities said.
More Top Picks Logitech Lift
Investigators found numerous pieces of other digital evidence from his home, including laptops, cell phone and hard drives, authorities said.
Schickel had been held on $1 million bail at Cook County jail.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.