Des Plaines man charged in child pornography case

A 19-year-old Des Plaines man has been charged with a felony count of possession of child pornography following a 14-month investigation into material found on two computer storage drives, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said Monday.

Bryan Toth faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Samborn said.

Toth, who was indicted April 5, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Monday and was released under a personal recognizance bond to the custody of his mother.

According to the indictment, Toth last year was in possession of 8 GB and 32 GB thumb drives that contained a pornographic image of a child that had been shipped or transported in some manner and was produced using materials that were shipped and transported, thereby resulting in the federal charge because it involved a “facility of interstate and foreign commerce.”

The thumb drives and a personal laptop computer belonging to Toth were seized by the FBI in February 2011 as part of the investigation that has been ongoing.

Toth is prohibited from having any Internet access or any unsupervised contact with minors while awaiting resolution of his case, Samborn said.

He is due back in court May 3 for a status hearing before Judge Robert Dow at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.