West Chicago man detained on child pornography charges
A West Chicago man accused of possessing and distributing child pornography was ordered held in custody Wednesday.
DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden ruled that Marco A. Cruz, 38, is a danger to the community, specifically children who are assaulted to make child pornography.
Attaining child pornography creates a market for it, he ruled.
Dieden also wrote that he doesn’t believe an order prohibiting Cruz from using the internet if he was on electronic monitoring or home confinement would work, since he could purchase internet-capable devices.
Cruz is charged with five felony counts of child pornography involving a victim under the age of 13. The charges are felonies punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
According to a prosecutor’s petition to detain Cruz, the Kik messaging app company notified West Chicago police on March 18 that a user was using it to send and receive 36 files between Feb. 11 and March 10.
The Kik account was traced to Cruz, of the 700 block of Lyman Street, according to the petition.
Police took Cruz into custody on May 28 and seized his cellphone.
According to prosecutors, there were hundreds of videos and images of child pornography on the phone, with some depicting children as young as 2 years old. The materials were sent and received via Kik, Telegram and Signal applications, according to prosecutors’ petition.
Cruz’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 25, for arraignment in front of Judge Brian Telander.