Ex-child porn investigator gets 50 years for child sex abuse

A former McHenry County sheriff's deputy and child pornography investigator was sentenced to 50 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty earlier this year to sexually abusing a preteen boy during a four-year period.

Gregory M. Pyle, 39, formerly of Crystal Lake, was charged in 2012 after his name surfaced in another child pornography investigation downstate.

Investigators uncovered the ongoing sexual abuse of the boy by Pyle that began in 2006.

Pyle pleaded guilty in January, admitting that he took the boy from Illinois to a hotel in Milwaukee intending to record sexual acts with the child. Prosecutors described the images produced as "sadistic, masochistic and violent."

A 10-year veteran of the sheriff's department, Pyle had also served as the agency's representative on the state's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Prosecutors said Pyle used his knowledge of Internet crime investigations to "obstruct investigators determining the full scope of his criminal conduct." Prosecutors had sought a 50-year sentence.

Pyle has to serve 85 percent of his federal sentence and will be placed on lifetime supervision if he is ever released, according to court papers.

Pyle is facing state sexual assault charges as well. He is next due in a McHenry County courtroom Sept. 25. If convicted by the state, he faces a maximum 30 years in prison.