 Jeremy G. Best, 31, is charged with five counts of aggravated child pornography,
a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in the Illinois Department
of Corrections. Best is free after posting bond set at $50,000, with a first
appearance scheduled for June 12 in Sangamon County Circuit Court."Child
pornography is an unspeakable crime that has very real consequences. Every time
an image of a child being sexually assaulted is viewed, it perpetuates the
initial crime, further scarring these young, innocent victims," Madigan said.
"My office will continue to be relentless in targeting these offenders."
Madigan's investigators, with the assistance of the Springfield Police
Department and the Sangamon County state's attorney's office, conducted a search
last week of Best's residence in the 2400 block of Old Rochester Road in
Springfield, and he was arrested after evidence of alleged child pornography was
located. Sangamon County State's Attorney John Milhiser's office will prosecute
the case.
"The sexual exploitation of children is a terrible crime, and the prosecution
of these cases is a priority," said Milhiser. "With the excellent work of
law enforcement and the new tools available, we can better identify, track and
prosecute these offenders."
The public is reminded that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven
guilty in a court of law.
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This is the 42nd arrest since Madigan launched Operation Glass House
in August 2010 to investigate the most active child pornography
traders in Illinois. In the first year of Operation Glass House,
Madigan's investigations revealed a disturbing trend of offenders
trading extremely violent videos of young children being raped. As a
result, Operation Glass House has focused on apprehending offenders
who are seen trading and watching extremely violent videos involving
children, including infants and toddlers.
Madigan's office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of
Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children task
force, which investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law
enforcement agencies. Since 2006, Madigan's ICAC task force has been
involved in 558 arrests of sexual predators. The task force has also
provided Internet safety training and education to nearly 290,000
parents, teachers and students and 16,261 law enforcement
professionals. Currently, 183 agencies are affiliated with the
Illinois ICAC.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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