With his family and friends looking on, Fred Railsback III, who was charged with felony child photography by a sex offender, was sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, to be served at 50 percent, and with credit for time served in the McDonough County Jail, after a negotiated plea of guilty in McDonough County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Heidi Benson concurred with the agreement, and sentenced the 79-year-old Macomb man after Railsback’s attorney, James Hoyle, and the state attorney’s office reached the plea deal. Railsback had originally pleaded not guilty. He has been held in the McDonough County Jail since his July 14 arrest.
Railsback was also sentenced to five years, to run concurrently with the 2025 conviction, for violating probation from a previous child pornography offense. He was granted credit for time served in the McDonough County Jail on both offenses, 319 days for the 2025 arrest and 484 days served for the 2023 arrest resulting in the 2024 conviction. In addition, Railsback is required to be on mandatory supervised probation after his release, and must pay close to $1,400 in fines.
He was charged with the latest felony child photography by a sex offender after he took photos of an 11-year-old girl at a local diner during the summer of 2025. A family member, who knew Railsback’s identity, noticed him snapping pictures. She went to the police station to report the incident, and an officer went to Railsback’s home. The Macomb police officer discovered the photos on Railsback’s telephone, even though he had attempted to delete the photos. He then admitted to police he took the photos because he “thought she was cute.”
At the time of the July 2025 incident, Railsback was on probation after pleading guilty in September 2024 to three felony child pornography-related charges stemming back from early 2023. As part of that particular plea deal, Railsback was sentenced to 128 days in jail – credit for time served – with four years of probation and ordered to pay more than $14,000 in fines and fees. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
