Marine recruiter from Rolling Meadows charged with child porn possession in Lake County

A Marine Corps recruiter assigned to the Lake County area faces child pornography charges after cyber crimes investigators found multiple images and videos of underage children on his mobile phone, prosecutors said Wednesday.

James R. Wallace, 35, an active-duty staff sergeant, is charged with four counts of felony child pornography possession, according to the Lake County state's attorney's office. Wallace lives in Rolling Meadows and works out of an office at the Naval Station Great Lakes near North Chicago, authorities said.

Wallace remained behind bars in the county jail Wednesday after a judge set his bail at $500,000, meaning he must post $50,000 to go free while his case is pending.

The investigation leading to Wallace's arrest began earlier this year, when members of the Cyber Crimes Division of the Lake County state's attorney's office received a tip that someone had a digital drop box containing illegal images, prosecutors said.

The state's attorney's office worked with local Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigators to identify Wallace as a suspect, authorities said.

After obtaining a search warrant and forensic analysis, Lake County state's attorney investigator Wendy Dumont discovered child pornography on his cellular device, prosecutors allege.

"We will never stop searching for these offenders in every corner of the web and the county," State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said in an announcement of the arrest.

Wallace is next scheduled to appear in court Friday.