Naperville Man Charged With Possessing Child Pornography

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (STMW) - A man from west suburban Naperville is free on $500,000 bail, after being arrested and charged with having pornographic images of preschool age to teenage children in his home computer.

John E. Conrad, 58, is a former resident of Bellevue, Wash., now living on the 4100 block of Joe Willie Drive in Naperville's Clow Creek neighborhood. He faces trial on two felony charges of aggravated child pornography possession and individual counts of child pornography possession, unlawful use of encryption and possession of a firearm without a valid firearms owner's identification card, according to records on file in Will County Circuit Court in Joliet.

Members of the Naperville Police Department's Computer Crimes Unit began investigating Conrad last fall, Sgt. John Westlove said. Detectives learned Conrad was allegedly "sharing files online of child pornography depicting children as young as toddlers to teenagers," Westlove said Friday via email.

Police obtained a search warrant for Conrad's personal computer and served it at his home. Westlove said Conrad allegedly used encryption programs in an attempt to hide the pornography.

Westlove added evidence was recovered from the computer, although he did not know the number or type of images confiscated.

Police also apparently seized a firearm from Conrad. Westlove's email did not provide information about the weapon.

Conrad had been wanted on a May 25 Will County arrest warrant. He surrendered late Tuesday night at the Naperville police station and was released after posting a $50,000 cash bond, the mandatory 10 percent of his bail.

Court records indicated Conrad is to be arraigned on June 27.

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