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Prospect Heights man charged with having child pornography

A 50-year-old Prospect Heights man was ordered held on $100,000 bail Friday after, authorities allege, police found 144 images depicting children engaging in sexual conduct stored on his laptop computer.

Michael Dalke, who has no criminal background, was ordered by Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo to have no contact with anyone under age 18. Cataldo also prohibited Dalke from accessing the Internet and ordered him to surrender any firearms in his possession.

Mount Prospect police launched an investigation after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted them that a pornographic image depicting a child had been posted on a Twitter account, which police traced to Dalke, said Cook County assistant state's attorney David Shin.

On Thursday, police searched Dalke's home and recovered the images from a laptop that only Dalke had access to, Shin said. The images included pictures of children younger than 13.

If convicted, Dalke faces up to seven years in prison. If convicted of having multiple accounts, he must serve the sentences consecutively, Shin said.

Dalke next appears in court on Sept. 11.

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