Alleged Kiddie-Porn Stasher Pleads Guilty to Abusing a Child

A former Palatine man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a little girl over two years, and in return he’ll get a 25-year prison sentence.

Robert A. Shachter, 50, began assaulting the girl while he lived in Elgin starting in 2007. The girl went to her mother in 2009. Shachter was arrested in May 2014.

While in jail awaiting trial, Shachter’s stash of illegal kiddie porn found in an abandoned storage locker in Arlington Heights. After Shachter failed to make rental payments on a storage locker, his belongings were auctioned, according to court records reviewed by the Daily Herald.

The bidder found what appeared to be a lot of child porn in the storage unit, including possible photographs of that girl, who was 7 or 8 at the time of the molestation.

At some point, Shachter moved from Palatine to Glendale Heights.

Shachter, who pleaded guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault in Kane County on Thursday, could face prosecution for the child porn in Cook County.

“Sadly, in too many cases victims disclose their abuse to someone they trust, only to have the confidant — even a parent — become dismissive and betray them, declining to make a report to DCFS or the police,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “That failure to report, even by someone who is not required by law to do so, victimizes the child again.”