CHICAGO — A Chicago man who works as a high school teacher in the Northern District of Illinois has been charged with transporting child pornography after authorities said he flew from O’Hare International Airport to Mexico City with hundreds of files on his phone.
Thomas Neal, 42, is charged with one count of transportation of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Federal prosecutors said Neal possessed images and videos of child pornography on his cell phone when he flew from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago to Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City on June 17.
After Neal arrived in Mexico City, he was selected for secondary screening by Mexican border authorities, who saw images on his phone that constituted child pornography, according to the complaint.
Authorities secured Neal’s phone and other luggage, including two laptops and six electronic storage devices, and placed him and the luggage on a flight to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, prosecutors said.
When Neal arrived in Houston, Homeland Security Investigations agents reviewed his phone under border search authority and found hundreds of files containing child pornography, according to the complaint.
The complaint states Neal is employed as a teacher at a high school in the Northern District of Illinois. Prosecutors did not identify the school in the announcement.
Neal remained detained in federal custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for June 29 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes in Chicago.
If convicted, Neal faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years, prosecutors said.
The charge was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, special agent in charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations. U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided substantial assistance, prosecutors said.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Walgamuth.
A criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt. Neal is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, at which prosecutors have the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of sexual exploitation is encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at missingkids.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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