Child porn charges for Cortland man after Illinois State Police investigation: Records

CORTLAND – A Cortland man is facing criminal felony charges after Illinois State Police said they found digital images and videos of child pornography the man allegedly downloaded from his phone to a digital storage cloud.

Charles W. Ramsey, 36, of the 400 block of North Charles Street in Cortland, is charged with five felony counts of possession of child pornography. If convicted of the Class 3 felony, he could face up to five years in prison.

The Illinois State Police received 11 cyber tips on April 19 sent by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an unknown person downloading digital files of child pornography to a digital cloud storage system, according to DeKalb County court records.

The cyber tips linked the downloads to a Samsung Galaxy S21 cellphone and an email “imgonnagetcha69@gmail.com,” according to court records.

State police investigators subpoenaed Verizon records which showed the Samsung phone number was allegedly registered to Ramsey, records state.

Authorities conducted a warrant search of Ramsey’s home on June 8 and found the phone with the downloaded images and videos depicting child pornography in his home, according to court records.

The phone had the same number that was reported under the cyber tips.

Ramsey was arrested by Illinois State Police June 8 and taken to DeKalb County Jail. Authorities from the Cortland Police Department and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.

According to court records, Ramsey allegedly admitted to state police that he possessed the child pornography files on his phone.

Ramsey is ordered to appear for arraignment at 9 a.m. on July 24 at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore.

Ramsey was given a $30,000 bond by Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick on June 9 during a bond hearing. According to court records, Ramsey posted 10% of that, or $3,000 and was released from DeKalb County Jail on June 12 as he awaits further court proceedings.

He remains on an electronic home monitoring device in the interim, records show.

Ramsey is represented by area defense attorney Liam Dixon, who was not immediately available for comment.

According to state police, anonymous tips of child pornography can be reported through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) cyber tip line at www.cybertipline.com. For more information, visit www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/onlinesafe/ or www.cybertipline.org. For resources for survivors of sexual abuse, visit www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/csam-resources.