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Local investigation leads to arrest of Illinois mayor

The 68-year-old mayor of a town near Chicago is accused of sending child pornography over the Internet.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published July 27, 2006

CLEARWATER - An investigation started by Clearwater police has ended in the arrest of the mayor of a small town near Chicago on numerous counts of distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Monday's arrest of Green Oaks, Ill., Mayor Thomas Adams underscores how possessing child pornography is a crime found among people from all walks of life, police said.

"There is no stereotypical child predator," Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. "They're not all sleazy-looking street people, and a case like this should illustrate for parents the dangers and the reach of the Internet."

In recent months, authorities across Tampa Bay arrested numerous suspects, including a 75-year-old man in Clearwater, a Palm Harbor man who worked at Nielsen Media Research and a Plant City man who operated a video game store in Temple Terrace.

An undercover Clearwater detective first encountered Adams, 68, in an Internet chat room in March 2005, police said.

Adams, the mayor of Green Oaks, a village of 3,500 people about 35 miles from Chicago, told the detective he lived in Florida, had two young sons and was looking for someone interested in swapping children for sex, they said.

Adams proposed a meeting with the detective and proceeded to send him several e-mails containing 11 images of child pornography, police said. Then, using computer records, the investigator determined Adams was actually in Illinois and contacted authorities in that state who, along with the FBI, arrested him on Monday.

Adams, described by Illinois media as a longtime GOP power broker, has been mayor of Green Oaks since 1993 and previously served as a trustee for 12 years. He also served for two years as chairman of the Lake County Republican Party.

Adams faces numerous counts of transmitting material harmful to minors and possessing child pornography. Illinois authorities were examining his computer and additional charges were pending. Efforts to reach him and his attorney on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

According to a study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, about one in five children were sexually solicited or approached over the Internet in 2000.

"It's remarkable how a predator in another state can reach into a Clearwater living room," Shelor said. "Parents, keep an eye on your kids and who they are talking to. This should frighten parents and they should turn that fright into caution."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 727 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 27, 2006, 07:10:37]