Sycamore man charged with reproducing child sexual abuse materials

SYCAMORE – A Sycamore man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly downloaded multiple videos depicting child sexual abuse on his home computer, records show.

The charges against Richard C. Milam, 69, of Sycamore, followed an investigation by Sycamore police and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Milam was charged Nov. 17 with three felony counts of visual reproduction of child pornography depicting videos and images of child sexual abuse, according to DeKalb County court records.

Sycamore and Illinois State Police executed a search warrant at Milam’s home Nov. 16, records show. During the search, police found a laptop in Milam’s living room. Milam was home at the time of the search and interviewed by police.

Police said in a court synopsis that during an interview, Milam stated, “in summary, that he used the laptop with a file-sharing program for downloading movies.”

Milam allegedly admitted to downloading and viewing files that depicted images of child sexual abuse but told police he “deleted it,” according to court records.

A forensics team deployed by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office also was at Milam’s home at the time of the police search, according to court records. The team discovered software on Milam’s computer and apparent files showing images of child sexual abuse, according to court records.

The DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a motion Nov. 17 to deny Milam pretrial release, records show.

Associate Judge Jill Konen granted the motion the same day. Milam was represented by the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office for his initial hearing. He remained in custody at the DeKalb County Jail as of Nov. 21.

He’s next ordered to appear in court for a status hearing at 2:30 p.m. Monday.