Former Area State Rep. Keith Farnham Indicted for Child Porn Possession & Distribution

The rumor mill was correct, as you can see from this press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

FORMER ILLINOIS STATE REP. KEITH FARNHAM CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRPHY

CHICAGO ― Former Illinois State Rep. KEITH FARNHAM was charged today with possession of child pornography in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Farnham allegedly possessed two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin in March.

State Reps. Mike Tryon, Keith Farnham and State Senator Karen McConnaughay attended a District 300 legislative forum in Algonquin in January of 2013.

State Reps. Mike Tryon, Keith Farnham and State Senator Karen McConnaughay attended a District 300 legislative forum in Algonquin in January of 2013.

Farnham, 66, of Elgin, was not arrested and no date has been set yet for him to appear voluntarily for an initial appearance in Federal Court.

On March 13, agents with U.S. Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a federal search warrant at Farnham’s office and residence in Elgin. Several computers and electronic storage devices were recovered that contained child pornography images, including the two charged videos, according to the complaint affidavit.

The office computer that contained the videos was labeled “PROPERTY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.”

Farnham resigned his seat in the Illinois General Assembly on March 19.

According to the complaint, HSI agents were investigating information received from the HSI Cyber Crimes Center that an email address, later linked to Farnham, was being used to trade child pornography on the Internet.

After agents linked the email account to Farnham they obtained and reviewed instant message chats that occurred between last June and January this year. Excerpts of those chats are detailed in the affidavit.

Possession of child pornography carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The complaint was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI in Chicago

A complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Former State Rep. Keith Farnham is scheduled to have his initial court appearance at 11 a.m. Wednesday (April 30) before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert in Courtroom 1386 in the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St., Chicago.


Comments

Former Area State Rep. Keith Farnham Indicted for Child Porn Possession & Distribution — 5 Comments

  1. Betcha if he was NOT a DEMOCRAT he would on the evening news being led from his home in chains!!!

    Wonder what Mike thinks about sitting beside an accused pervert?

  2. Wasn’t Rod Blagojevich a Democrat and he was led from his residence i. handcuffs?

    If it were me connecting the dots, it would seem that Democrats do sometimes have to wear chains, not just corrupt Republican governors.

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