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Lake Villa man charged after investigators find 80GB of child exploitation material: officials

By Lauren Westphal
Published  March 25, 2026 9:46pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 32 Chicago

The Brief

    • A Lake Villa man, Nicholas J. Gillespie, 43, is charged with five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.
    • Investigators say he downloaded about 80 gigabytes of illicit files during a two-month investigation, with evidence found during a search using K9 units.
    • Gillespie is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Thursday.

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - A Lake Villa man has been charged in a child exploitation investigation, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Nicholas J. Gillespie, 43, of Lake Villa, has been charged with five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material. 

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Nicholas J. Gillespie, 43, of Lake Villa (Lake County Sheriff’s Office)

During a nearly two-month investigation, officials discovered that Gillespie downloaded approximately 80 gigabytes worth of files containing child sexual abuse material. During a search warrant on Wednesday, investigators found evidence with the help of K9 Enzo and K9 Grip.

What's next:

Gillespie's first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

The Source: Details for this story were provided by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Crime and Public SafetyLake CountyNews