West Chicago man accused of possessing, distributing child sexual abuse material: prosecutors

Pre-trial release was denied Wednesday for a West Chicago man accused of possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material, prosecutors said.

Marco Cruz, 39, of the 700 block of Lyman Street, appeared at First Appearance Court charged with five counts of child pornography – reproduce or distribute – victim under 13, a Class X Felony, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

The West Chicago Police Department was made aware of the possible possession and dissemination of child sexual abuse material by a user with the name of KingOfKings3800, according to the release. Following an investigation, authorities traced the user name to an email and IP address allegedly registered to Cruz.

On May 28, West Chicago police conducted a traffic stop on Cruz, during which officers seized Cruz’s cell phone. Authorities allegedly found that in the past two days, Cruz had disseminated more than 10 videos using the Kik application, according to the release.

Cruz had allegedly stored hundreds of videos and images of child sexual abuse material on his cell phone, some with children who appeared to be as young as 2 to 7 years old. He also disseminated the material using the Telegram application, according to the release.

“The allegation that Mr. Cruz was not only in possession of child pornography but also shared pornographic images depicting children with others is very disturbing,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “As I have said many times in the past, every image of child pornography represents yet another innocent victim of child pornography, and my office will not hesitate in filing charges against anyone involved in such behavior.”

“Offenders who believe that disseminating child pornography is harmless because they didn’t create it are perpetuating a myth and encouraging an illegal act that almost guarantees the future victimization of innocent children,” West Chicago Chief of Police Colin Fleury said in the release. “West Chicago Police Department personnel will not only use every available resource to investigate these crimes to curb this horrendous offense, but we will also continue to work tirelessly and cooperatively with State’s Attorney Bob Berlin and his office to seek justice.”

Cruz’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 25 for arraignment.