Chicago —(ENEWSPF)—June 19, 2015. Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced charges today against a Winnebago County man on multiple counts of possessing and reproducing child pornography.
Madigan’s investigators and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Wednesday and arrested Robert Rossi, 39, at his residence on Wilshire Drive in Machesney Park.
Rossi was charged with two counts of reproduction of child pornography, one count a Class X felony punishable by nine to 30 years in prison and the second count a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years in prison. Rossi was also charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, one count a Class 1 felony punishable by four to 15 years in prison and the second count a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison. His bond was set Thursday at $750,000.
“Child pornography is not a victimless crime,” Attorney General Madigan said. “Whenever an offender downloads or trades these horrific images, it perpetuates the sexual assault of children and only causes further devastation to the victims. We will continue to be relentless in apprehending these offenders.”
The investigation and arrest by Madigan’s office was assisted by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case.
“The Office of the State’s Attorney takes these types of crimes very seriously,” said Winnebago County State’s Attorney Joe Bruscato. “The act of possessing and viewing child pornography is not a victimless crime. It is our duty as prosecutors to use all means available to us to protect victims, both current and future.”
“I appreciate all of the efforts of the Attorney General’s office and their investigators,” said Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana. “We will continue to partner with them to pursue predators in our community.”
Attorney General Madigan leads the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Task Force investigates child exploitation crimes and trains local and county level law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois to do the same. Since 2006, Madigan’s ICAC task force has been involved in 968 arrests of sexual predators. The task force has also provided Internet safety training and education to nearly 440,000 parents, teachers and students and more than 18,600 law enforcement professionals.
The public is reminded that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Source: illinoisattorneygeneral.gov
