1,000s of Child Porn Images Discovered in Willow Spring Man's Home: Prosecutor

Police found thousands of images of child poronography at a Willow Springs man’s residence during a raid on Feb. 7, prosecutors said in court Thursday.

Dustin Sacks, 46, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on two felony counts of dissemination of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Sacks was the subject of an undercover investigation by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force. Investigators were monitoring a peer-to-peer file sharing program called EMule when they identified a potential source of child pornography, prosecutors said.

According to the charges, Investigators were able to trace the IP address to the source computer’s file sharing program. Between Nov. 27, 2015 and Jan. 17, 2016, investigators downloaded several files from the IP address which contained illegal and sexually explicit videos of young children.

On Feb. 9, police visited Sacks’ residence at 8502 Candlelight Drive, Willow Springs. When Sacks didn’t respond to officers’ knock on the door, police broke into the home. Police confiscated three computers, three laptops and two external hard drives, as well as numerous jump drives and discs. A forensic investigation revealed thousands of images of child ponorography, prosecutors said.

Investigators said that images they downloaded from Sacks’ IP address and file shares matched those found in his home.

Sacks’ attorney told the judge that his client had an “open IP address,” allowing other users to upload material and share files onto Sacks computer.

“[The police] didn’t kick in his door and find boxes and discs,” the attorney said. “There was one piece of hardware. I’m just letting the court know.”

The attorney said Sacks’ brother and sister had driven three hours to support him in court. Sacks had never been arrested before and wasn’t a flight risk.

Judge Felice set bail at $150,000. He ordered Sacks to not have contact with children under 18, nor is he to have access to the Internet or cell phones. Sacks is due back in court on March 10 in Bridgeview.

If convicted, Sacks faces 6-30 years each on the dissemination counts, and 4-15 years on possession of child pornography, in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The possession count is also a probational offense, prosecutors said.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office administers the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which investigates and prosecutes criminal acts such as child pornography, sexual solicitation of a child or missing child investigations. The task force also offers guidance and information for parents and educators on internet safety.