Elgin man faces child porn charges after business searched

A 39-year-old Elgin man was charged with child pornography possession after authorities arrested him at his auto shop in South Elgin this week, according to police and court records.

Johny Perez-Torres, of the 900 block of Van Street, faces five felony charges and, if convicted, faces up to seven years in prison. Probation, fines and counseling also are options.

McHenry County officials were investigating a peer-to-peer file sharing network and traced an Internet address to South Elgin and notified police in December, said South Elgin Police Detective Sgt. Mike Doty.

Doty said police searched Torres' shop in the 600 block of Sundown Road Tuesday and later arrested him.

“He was charged for each video that we pulled up. There could be more charges pending a forensic examination of his computer,” Doty said.

Torres posted 10 percent of $35,000 bail Friday morning and was released from the Kane County jail, according to the Kane County Sheriff's Office.

He is next due in court Feb. 28.

According to court records, Torres' did not have any previous felony arrests in Kane County, just traffic tickets, including a citation in April 2011 by state police for driving while never being issued a license.

Doty could not immediately specify a time frame as to when authorities would finish the search of Torres' computer. He said authorities do not believe Torres was involved in the production of child pornography and he was only viewing it.

“At this point, we have nothing to believe any children here locally were involved,” Doty said.

A man who answered the phone at Torres' shop said Torres was not available. It was not immediately clear whether he had hired an attorney.