The mayor of Green Oaks was charged Monday with distributing childpornography over the Internet after authorities executed a searchwarrant at his house, officials said.
Bail was set at $100,000 for Tom Adams, 68, of the 800 block ofAnderson Drive, after he was arrested Monday morning, authorities said.He was in Lake County Jail Monday evening.
Adams, a former chairman of the Lake County Republican Party and alongtime GOP power broker, is accused of using three screen names onAmerica Online to send child porn from a computer in his home office,said Assistant State's Atty. Patricia Fix. The first incident occurredMarch 21, 2005, she said. On July 12, 2005, an undercover policeofficer in Florida received five e-mails from Adams that containedmultiple images of child porn, according to Fix.
On May 25, Adams sent child porn images to three people, and he sentone image on June 2, Fix said. The FBI contacted the state's attorneyin May, she said.
When authorities went to Adams' house Monday morning, they found childporn on his computer, Fix said. Adams told investigators that he sentthe images and that he is addicted to child porn, Fix said.
If convicted, Adams could get 15 years in prison consecutively for each person who received child porn from him, Fix said.
"These are very unfortunate and serious charges," said Adams' attorney,Tom Briscoe of Waukegan. "We'll have an answer for them at theappropriate time."
None of Green Oaks' trustees were available for comment. The small community is located between Libertyville and Lake Bluff.
Adams, who has been active in local government for several years, waschairman of the Lake County Republican Party from 2002 to 2004,according to the Illinois House Republican Organization Web site. He iscurrently chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which represents272 municipalities in the Chicago area, according to its Web site.
