Des Plaines man charged in child porn bust
A 32-year-old Des Plaines man is in federal custody after a raid of his home Tuesday led to him being charged with transporting child pornography.
Bobby Cruz faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years behind bars if convicted. He will receive a minimum sentence of five years if found guilty, federal officials said.
Cruz was arrested following a two-month investigation initiated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to court papers. Agents uncovered several correspondences between Cruz and an unnamed suspect in California who was arrested in April on similar charges.
An undercover agent contacted Cruz in late August using the email account seized from the California suspect and offered to “trade” child pornography.
Court records show that in mid-September, Cruz sent an email file containing nearly 100 images of child pornography to the undercover agent. Several more trades were made in the following weeks, according to court papers.
Agents were able to trace the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the sent emails to Cruz’s home in Des Plaines.
On Tuesday, authorities raided Cruz’s residence on the 400 block of West Touhy Avenue and seized his computer. During subsequent interviews, Cruz admitted to distributing the images, agents stated.
Cruz is scheduled for a detention hearing Friday.