Sterling man again charged with possession of child porn

MORRISON – A Sterling man out on bond in a 2020 case charging him with 20 counts of possession of pornographic images of children younger than 13 is back in Whiteside County jail today, charged with 20 more counts in a second case.

Jonas M. Gragert, 36, was arrested Tuesday and is being held on $500,000 bond.

This investigation began in December, and a Feb. 21 search of Gragert’s home turned up several items that a subsequent analysis determined were children engaging in sex acts, Sterling police said in a news release and court records state.

Each charge is punishable by three to seven years in prison. If convicted of two or more, the sentences must run consecutively.

Gragert was arrested in the first case on Sept. 2, 2020, about two weeks after police received a tip.

He posted $10,000 of his $100,000 bond that Sept. 10.

Gragert originally was charged with five counts of possession of child pornography; 15 more counts were added the day after he posted bond, court records show. Those, too, involve images of children younger than 13 engaging in sex acts, court records state.

He has a pretrial conference May 17 in that case.