Alton man charged with child porn

Source: The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.mini storageJuly 19--ALTON -- A 66-year-old East End man is facing three felony child pornography charges resulting from an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General Office's "Operation Glass House" initiative.On Friday, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office charged Donald L. Phillips Sr., of the 3400 block of Fullerton Avenue in Alton, with three counts of possessing child pornography with a victim under the age of 13. The charges are Class X felonies, punishable by six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.Some of the computer images included videos of a young girl having sex with a male dog; a young girl masturbating; and a male child under the age of 13 having sex with an adult female, the warrant said.Phillips allegedly downloaded the pornography from about March 29 through June 7.A judge set bond of $150,000. Phillips was held Friday at the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville.Investigators from the Attorney General's Office in Springfield worked with Alton police to obtain the charges. Alton police assisted the reported 10 to 12 state investigators who carried out a raid Thursday morning at Phillips' home. A witness said some of the authorities brought computers into the house."Possessing child pornography is a crime far more horrific than anyone can imagine," Attorney General Lisa Madigan said. "Every time an image of a child being sexually assaulted is viewed, it perpetuates the initial offense, further scarring these innocent victims.""Crimes involving children, especially those of a sexual nature, are some of the worst imaginable for our community," said Madison County State's Attorney Thomas Gibbons, whose office will prosecute the case. "To ensure that citizens are safe, especially our children, we must be vigilant in our fight to locate, arrest and prosecute those who would delve into the depths of depravity by possessing and distributing child pornography. Working together, the Attorney General's Office, the Alton Police Department and the State's Attorney's Office have been able to remove a potential predator from our midst.""I commend the work of everyone involved so that predators can be caught before their behavior escalates to entering the community and harming one of our children," Alton Police Chief Jake Simmons said.Madigan initiated Operation Glass House in August 2010 to identify "the most active and prolific child pornographers in Illinois," the Attorney General's website says. It targets offenders watching and trading violent vidself storageos of children -- including infants and toddlers -- being sexually abused, the website says.The effort has resulted in several Madison County men being charged with child pornography-related felonies, including Scott Simmons of Alton in October 2010. Simmons was charged with three counts of aggravated possession of child pornography and seven counts of possession of child pornography.Another area man arrested in the initiative, Brian K. Cooper of Roxana, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of child pornography, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and for rubbing a 9-year-old female household member's genitals. A judge sentenced Cooper to 14 years in prison.Cooper was charged in March with predatory criminal assault of a child; aggravated criminal sexual abuse; three counts of Class X child pornography; and three counts of Class 1 child pornography. Officials said Cooper had nearly 3,000 photos and videos in his computer files, with authorities determining some of the children were younger than age 5.In March 2011, just months after Operation Glass House began, authorities charged Michael K. Wyrozynski of East Alton with 10 counts of aggravated possession of child pornography.Then, in June 2011, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office charged another East Alton man, Brandon C. Seymour, with 20 counts of aggravated child pornography. Authorities had seized three computers and a DVD player that revealed more than 1,000 video files containing child pornography, also part of Operation Glass House.The AG investigators track child pornographers online using an Internet protocol (IP) address, the unique identifier that each computer is assigned when it accesses the Internet.The initiative benefited from a law that Madigan helped write and worked to pass in the Illinois General Assembly, which helps investigators track such offenders and requires longer sentences when they are convicted, the office said.The law authorizes prosecutors to issue administrative subpoenas for Internet-related child exploitation investigations. By using administrative subpoenas, investigators can more quickly obtain the name and address behind an IP address and move the investigation forward. Before, it could have taken investigators up to 60 days to obtain this critical information, because grand jury sessions are scheduled infrequently.lweller@thetelegraph.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) Visit The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) at www.thetelegraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉