A 33-year-old Lockport man already serving four years of sex offender probation for possessing child sexual abuse material is back behind bars after investigators say a routine check of his cell phone turned up dozens more illegal images and videos. Piotr Fudala was arrested Monday, October 5, and now faces six counts of a Class 2 felony for possession of child sexual abuse material.
According to 1340 WJOL, the case began on June 12 when the Will County Probation Office notified Will County Sheriff's Office detectives of a possible probation violation tied to possession of CSAM. During a probation meeting, a probation officer asked to examine Fudala's cell phone and located what appeared to be child sexual abuse material on the device. Fudala admitted to possessing the material and consented to a forensic examination, which turned up roughly 40 images and nine videos of child sexual abuse material, the station reports.
The phone check that triggered the discovery did not happen in a vacuum. A Will County Probation Department violation report filed June 1 noted that Fudala said he was “unable to comply” with installing court-ordered forensic monitoring software on his iPhone, citing “financial constraints,” according to Shaw Local. That compliance breakdown is what led probation officers to inspect the phone directly days later.
A Case Already Working Its Way Through Probation
Fudala was no stranger to the court system. He had pleaded guilty on March 12, 2026, to a 2025 charge of possessing a digital video of child sexual abuse material, and Will County Judge John Connor sentenced him to four years of sex offender probation, per the same report. That earlier case traced back to May 15, 2025, when Will County Sheriff's detectives executed a search warrant at his home after Lockport police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff's office.
Detectives tracked Fudala down again around 3 p.m. on October 5 at his home in the 200 block of Cameron Avenue in Lockport, where he was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Will County Adult Detention Facility, WJOL reports. He is being held pending a detention hearing and was scheduled to appear in court Friday. As in any criminal case, Fudala is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Prosecutors Cite Danger, Seek Continued Detention
Will County prosecutors filed a formal petition under Illinois pretrial release rules seeking to hold Fudala in jail pending trial, arguing he poses a “clear danger to young girls in the community,” according to the same Shaw Local report. Fudala lives in the Fairmont neighborhood, an unincorporated community within Lockport Township.
The charges against him fall under updated state terminology. Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois House Bill 2690 replaced the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” across state statutes, reflecting that minors cannot legally consent, according to Komie and Associates. Each Class 2 felony count carries a statutory prison range of three to seven years under Illinois sentencing law, which can expand to an extended range of seven to 14 years if aggravating prior-felony factors apply, per the Illinois General Assembly's sentencing statute. A felony conviction would also trigger mandatory registration under the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act, imposing long-term residency and public proximity restrictions, according to DRD Law, LLC. The firm also notes that, per 2024 Illinois Department of Corrections data, 5,136 people were incarcerated for sex offenses in the state's prisons, about 17.7% of the total inmate population.
A Notable Name in the Courtroom
The case carries an added local wrinkle: during his prior proceedings, Fudala was represented by defense attorney JohnPaul Ivec, who is now running for Will County circuit court judge against incumbent Judge Amy Christiansen in the November 3 general election, Shaw Local reports.
The arrest adds to a string of recent child exploitation cases in the region. Hoodline previously covered a nationwide warrant issued for a Wilmington man accused of grooming a 13-year-old, part of a broader pattern of exploitation and grooming cases moving through Will and Grundy county courts.
