ADDICTED TO CHILD PORN

That's the excuse from a Chicago-area mayor, arrested Monday and charged with distributing child pornography via the Internet.

Green Oaks Mayor Tom Adams was jailed in lieu of $100,000 bond. He's 68. According to the Chicago Tribune:

Adams, a former chairman of the Lake County Republican Party and a longtime GOP power broker, is accused of using three screen names on America Online to send child porn from a computer in his home office, said Assistant State's Atty. Patricia Fix. The first incident occurred March 21, 2005, she said. On July 12, 2005, an undercover police officer in Florida received five e-mails from Adams that contained multiple images of child porn, according to Fix.

On May 25, Adams sent child porn images to three people, and he sent one image on June 2, Fix said. The FBI contacted the state's attorney in May, she said.

When authorities went to Adams' house Monday morning, they found child porn on his computer, Fix said. Adams told investigators that he sent the 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 the appropriate time."

None of Green Oaks' trustees were available for comment. The small community is located between Libertyville and Lake Bluff.

Green Oaks likes to boast that it is "rich in tradition that affords the pleasantries of quiet country living, excellent schools, access to major highways and tollways [and] single family home on large lots."