Winfield man admits possessing child porn

A Winfield man must register as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life after a state task force that secretly monitors child pornography sites on the Internet snared him in its web.

Mark A. Stolte, 29, also must serve 180 days in the DuPage County jail and complete 30 months of sex-offender probation. DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson sentenced Stolte Monday after he pleaded guilty to possession-of-child-pornography charges.

Police arrested Stolte last summer after an investigation that began with an Illinois Attorney General task force's tip that the Winfield man allegedly disseminated sexually explicit images of children on his computer. Police obtained a search warrant to confiscate the computer based on the tip. Authorities said a forensic examination confirmed the images had been sent on Stolte's computer.

Stolte must begin serving the jail term in August. His only criminal history included three prior drunken driving arrests. Authorities said one charge is pending; he received court supervision on another; for the third, he was found not guilty.