Computer Repair Technician Finds Alsip Man's Child Porn Collection: Prosecutor

Scott Petzel, 26 | Cook County Sheriff

Bridgeview, IL -- An Alsip man surrendered himself to police after child pornography was found on his computer almost two years ago, prosecutors said.

Scott Petzel, 26, appeared before Cook County Judge Peter Felice on a charge of possession of child pornography.

According to the charges, Petzel’s mother dropped off a Dell desktop computer to be repaired on May 1, 2014. As the computer repair technician was backing up files to an external hard drive, he noted images of what appeared to be nude photos of underage girls.

The computer technician contacted Alsip police, who began an investigation. Police executed a search warrant and took possession of the computer and external hard drive. Both devices were turned over to a forensic computer specialist.

About 30 to 40 photos and videos depicting children between the ages of 12 and 13 years old, and some as young as six years old, were discovered on both devices, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the images and videos were found under Petzel’s password protected login, to which his parents did not have access.

Petzel was contacted by Alsip police on March 30, who surrendered himself at the police station. Petzel allegedly said he found the images by using the search term “pthc,” which stands for “preteen hardcore.”

“Most of the time delays were due to the computer forensics specialist,” Alsip Deputy Police Chief Jay Miller said via email. “We have to bring it to an expert in that field so they can determine when, how, and where the images came from etc. There [were] several hundred images that had to be processed.”

The assistant public defender told the judge that Petzel is a graduate of Shepard High School and lives with his family.

Judge Felice set bail at $15,000. Petzel is to have no contact with anyone under age 18 and has to stay off the Internet while his case is pending.

If convicted, Petzel faces probation or three to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Petzel is due back in court on April 21 in Bridgeview.