Orland Park Man Gets Probation in Child Porn Case

By Joseph Hosey

An Orland Park man charged with possessing child pornography pleaded guilty Monday afternoon and was sentenced to two years of special sex offender probation.

Eric Holt, 28, must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The cops took notice of Holt during an investigation of a file sharing network conducted by a detective with the Chicago Police Department. The detective downloaded two videos from the network and traced them back to an IP address registered to Holt's home on Wheeler Drive. The movies depicted two children under the age of 13 engaged in a sex act.

The Chicago detective passed the case along to an investigator with the Orland Park Police Department. The Orland Park detective then secured a search warrant for Holt's home.

Holt was home when the cops showed up and admitted to police he used the file sharing network to download music and child pornography.

Cook County Judge Colleen Hyland noted that Holt had no criminal background at the time of his arrest in October. Holt's attorney, David O'Connor, pointed out that Holt is a high school graduate and took some college classes. Holt was also employed before he ran afoul of the law, O'Connor said.

Holt, who has grown a full beard since his arrest, declined to speak before he was sentenced.

The conditions of Holt's sex offender probation forbid him from residing with anyone under 18, having Internet access, using drugs or alcohol or loitering by a dirty book store, among other things.

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