Former Skokie flight attendant charged with possession of child pornography
A flight attendant who prosecutors say had cloud storage accounts containing more than 50,000 files of child sexual abuse material was ordered held on $10,000 bail and confined to his home.
Adam Schall, 39, formerly of Skokie and currently living in Wisconsin, is charged with possession of child pornography, punishable by up to seven years in prison upon conviction. Probation also is an option.
During Friday's hearing before Cook County Judge Ellen Mandeltort, prosecutors said Cook County sheriff's police Special Victims Unit deputies began investigating Schall in the wake of their investigation into a Wheeling man named Jan Bautista.
Bautista was charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography last year. His case is pending in Rolling Meadows.
According to prosecutors, Bautista's messaging service app listed a contact with Schall's name, phone number and an address on the 9000 block of Latrobe Avenue in Skokie. As investigators attempted to find Schall, they discovered he worked out of O'Hare International Airport as a flight attendant on international and domestic flights, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Dominica Puglise.
Upon learning that Schall was scheduled to arrive at O'Hare late on Tuesday, investigators found his vehicle, registered in Wisconsin, in O'Hare's employee parking lot. Deputies stopped him as he exited the parking lot and took him into custody.
At the sheriff's office, Schall allowed deputies to search his phone, Puglise said.
Investigators found three cloud storage and file hosting accounts with separate associated emails, Puglise said. They found more files in which none of the children depicted "appear to be any older than 8 years old," "This defendant's actions in sharing these files of child sexual abuse material perpetuates the trauma these victims experience," Puglise said.
Mandeltort ordered that Schall have no contact with anyone younger than 18. He cannot use the internet or his cellphone except to contact his lawyer, Schall also must surrender his passport and remain in Cook County while his case is pending, Mandeltort said.
Schall next appears on court on April 29.