Christopher Hopp once owned a restaurant in a small town in Illinois. But in 2023, he was arrested and charged with a slew of crimes related to child pornography. He allegedly secretly recorded his teenage stepdaughter in her bathroom, and in a separate charge was accused of intending to distribute psychedelic mushrooms. In June 2025, Hopp pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing 50 to 200 grams of psilocybin and unauthorized video recording charges. Now, a judge must decide how long Hopp will spend in prison.
According to Shaw Local, Hopp reportedly told the court he recorded his stepdaughter because he had concerns about her mental health and her erratic behaviors were “escalating.” Per Hopp, the 16-year-old lied, snuck people into the house, harmed, tattooed, and pierced herself. Ten days before she found a pen camera filming her, she reportedly ingested 28 pills in a suicide attempt, both Hopp and the girl’s mother, Corinne Breskovich, testified.
During the court appearance, the judge watched a video of an interview with the girl and a forensic interviewer with the McHenry County Children’s Advocacy Center. She said she felt “unsafe” at home and that Hopp and her mother berated her. After police arrested Hopp and Breskovich, the teen went to live with her biological father, and she died by suicide months later.
Judge Mark Gerhardt asked Hopp if he was guilty, and he reportedly said, “I accept that plea.” The judge asked again if he was guilty, and after a pause, Hopp said, “Yes, I am.”
But he argued that filming his stepdaughter was innocent. “I want your honor to know this is a terrible situation, and I have true remorse,” Hopp said. He added that the camera “was not for perverse reasons. … It was to help my daughter.”
During Hopp’s sentencing, Breskovich admitted she knew about the camera, calling it a “last-ditch effort” to help her daughter. She also admitted to growing psilocybin to help with her own mental health. She said Hopp told her to get rid of it when he learned about it.
Police discredited Breskovich’s statements about psilocybin, claiming the couple’s basement was a “mushroom grow operation” complete with 236 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, mushroom spores, a scale, packaging and labeling materials, and $2,000 cash, Shaw Local reported.
Assistant State’s Attorney Maria Marek said another woman accused Hopp of “surreptitiously” recording her while he was in the US Coast Guard. He argued the recording was consensual, and he was found not guilty of rape.
Marek said Hopp was well rehearsed and “a liar” and a “predator.” Because the victim is dead, Marek said Hopp can try to convince them of anything he wants.
“It’s easy for them to sit on the stand and say these things about her knowing she cannot come in,” Marek said
Anthony Villalobos, Hopp’s lawyer, said Hopp’s use of the camera was not a good choice. “He is a stupid but caring dad. It is easy to look back today and say that now,” Villalobos argued.
Gerhardt is expected to announce Hopp’s sentence on August 19.
