Child Pornography Bust: Wheeling Man Accused Of Felony Charges

WHEELING, IL — A Wheeling man is accused of possessing, soliciting and disseminating child pornography after investigators found numerous sexually explicit images and videos of children under the age of 13 on his cellphone, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Jan Matthew Bautista, 20, of the 400 block of South Navajo Trail, was arrested on Dec. 15 in connection with charges of dissemination of child pornography (a Class X felony), possession of child pornography (a Class 2 felony), and solicitation of child pornography (Class 1 felony).

The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Special Victims Unit received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a mobile app account linked to Bautista that had 15 images and videos of child pornography, according to a news release.

Investigators learned that Bautista was sharing the pornographic images and videos from the account. They then obtained and executed a search warrant for his residence, where his cellphone was seized.

Bautista was taken to custody and told investigators he used his cellphone to view, download, and share images and videos of underage children engaging in sexual acts on various social media apps. A subsequent forensic examination of his phone revealed more than 200 pornographic images and videos of children as young as infants, according to the news release.

Bautista appeared in the Rolling Meadows Courthouse Friday where he was issued a $30,000 D Bond. He was released after posting the required 10 percent of his bond.