Kendall County Man Gets 7-Year Sentence For Sharing Child Pornography Images: Weis

KENDALL COUNTY, IL — A Plano man was sentenced to 7 years in prison after he was found guilty of sharing child pornography photos online, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis said Tuesday.

Joshua French, 25, took a plea deal in December, pleading guilty to one count of child pornography in exchange for the prison term. Weis said the sentence was warranted due to the nature of the crime, despite French having no prior criminal history.

Investigators tracked a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to an account on X that had shared images of child pornography. Detectives traced the messages to French and executed a search warrant at his residence in November 2024. Kendall County jail logs list French's address as being in the 2000 block of Pauline Place in Plano.

The Lisle Police Department, Illinois Attorney General's Office and Kendall County Sheriff's Office assisted in the investigation.

"Some people out there lose sight that each of these videos that investigators find contained a child who had been victimized, and individuals who disseminate and share this material are just perpetuating the cycle," Weis said in a statement.

In addition to the sentence, French will be required to serve 3 years to life of mandatory supervised release and register for life as a sex offender, Weis said.