FBI Seeks To Identify Boys Secretly Recorded In YMCA Locker Rooms

CHICAGO — More than two years after the arrest of an Edgewater man charged with producing child pornography in the showers of Chicago area YMCAs, federal investigators are still trying to track down the minors he recorded, at times secretly, according to the FBI.

Michael Porter, 57, has been held without bond at the Winnebago County Jail since he was taken into custody on Dec. 2, 2020, after federal agents conducted a search of his Sheridan Road condominium, records show.

"We are seeking to identify victims whose images were captured on recording devices," FBI spokesperson Siobhan Johnson said Tuesday. "We believe that there may be over 100 victims ranging from ages 5 to 17 captured on recordings from approximately 2006 until 2020."

Porter came to the attention of law enforcement as a result of a January 2020 arrest of a convicted sex offender in Philadelphia who had been advertising the sale of videos showing the sexual abuse of children, according to Anthony Stack, an FBI task force officer who took part in the search.

From September 2019 to January 2020, Porter paid more than $500 to the unidentified person using a Google Pay account linked to his email and received links to at least 42 videos and 125 images of child pornography, Stack said in an affidavit shortly after Porter's arrest.

According to court records, it was only after investigators got a warrant to search Porter's home, which was linked to the internet protocol addresses involved in the online transactions, that law enforcement uncovered that Porter had been recording boys inside YMCA locker rooms, in various states of undress and arousal, for a period of at least 15 years.

YMCA of Metro Chicago representatives said they first learned of the allegations of Porter's misconduct after his arrest. He had been an active member of the YMCA from 2006 until March 2020, according to a statement from the nonprofit after his indictment.

During those years, he visited three locations: South Side YMCA, 6330 S. Stoney Island Ave.; High Ridge YMCA, 2424 W. Touhy Ave., Chicago, and Leaning Tower YMCA, 6300 W. Touhy Ave., Niles.

In July 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Porter on seven counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of electronic devices containing child pornography.

"Despite the fact that our policies prohibit any video recording or picture taking in our locker rooms or in our pool/aquatic facilities without permission, the Federal authorities have informed us that they believe Porter used concealed cameras to surreptitiously videotape, and on two known occasions inappropriately touch, boys in the locker rooms at one or more of these facilities," according to a statement issued by the YMCA following his indictment. "At this time, the Federal authorities have found no evidence to suggest Porter distributed the videos he surreptitiously captured."

A conviction for child pornography production carries a sentence of 15 to 30 years in federal prison, a conviction for receipt of it carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years, while the indictment's possession count is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

According to federal prosecutors, the production charges relate to seven incidents involving nine boys in two locker rooms nearly 15 years.

The first three counts — videos from September 2006, September 2008 and April 2009 — take place at "Fitness Center A." The other four counts of the indictment, relate to recordings made in October 2013, January 2014, October 2019 and February 2020 at "Fitness Center B."

Prosecutors allege Porter placed cameras on the dividers between showers in the locker room, pointed a camera concealed in a gym bag at areas where children were showering and sometimes manually video-recorded children from inside bathroom or shower stalls, zooming in and sometimes capturing images of himself.

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Ralph Schindler Jr., Porter's court-appointed defense attorney, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, citing recent federal appellate court cases that reversed child pornography production convictions in cases where the minors depicted were fully clothed and asleep.

In an attempt to his client's production charges tossed, the Burr Ridge-based attorney asked U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Guzman to review the video evidence himself, arguing it falls short of the legal standard for child pornography production.

"The federal statue prohibiting the production of child pornography carries a 15-year mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. It is clear that such enhanced penalty should apply where the adult engages the minor to participate in the production of child pornography," Schindler said in his motion last year. "The enhanced penalty is based on the adult involving a minor in such activity and corrupting the morals of such minor victim. Here it is respectfully submitted that voyeurism should not be subject to such enhancement."

In the government's response, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Totten said all of the locker room videos Porter produced depict either "lascivious exhibition" or, in one case from a video recorded at "Fitness Center B," sexually explicit conduct.

"[Porter] appeared to have had multiple cameras recording because he captured three videos of Minor 6 masturbating, all from different angles," Totten said. "The second video depicted Minor 6 in the shower from directly above the shower stall and the third video appeared to be from inside of the shower stall itself."

In February, Guzman denied the motion to dismiss the indictment, saying he was unpersuaded by Schindler's comparisons to cases involving sleeping children.

"In this case, by contrast, each count is based on or includes sexually explicit conduct by the minor," Guzman said.

No information was immediately available regarding how many children had been identified so far on the four hard drives, cell phone and laptop taken from Porter's home that prosecutors say contain child pornography.

YMCA representatives recommended that anyone who believes that they or a member of their family might have been recorded by or had an inappropriate interaction with Porter at the Leaning Tower YMCA, which closed in 2020, the High Ridge YMCA, which closed in 2021, or the South Side YMCA, which remains open, to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or 800-225-5324, in reference to the “Michael Porter – Chicago Matter.”

Earlier: Member Took Secret Photos Of Boys In YMCA Locker Room: Feds