Crime & Safety

Feds: Kiddie Porn Case Has Morris Connection

A child pornography investigation has ties to nearby Morris, the feds revealed Thursday, making it the second such case in or near Shorewood in less than four months.

A Des Plaines man arrested last month on a child pornography charge was manufacturing at least some illicit images in nearby Morris, the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed Thursday.

Bobby Cruz, 32, "enticed a minor" into posing for child pornography while in the town of Morris, according to a federal indictment.

The Morris incident involved but one of three alleged young victims Cruz exploited for the purpose of manufacturing child pornography, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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Cruz was charged with four counts of producing child pornography by enticing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, one count of crossing a state line to engage in a sexual act with a minor under 12, two counts of transporting child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography in an eight-count indictment returned late Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

On Nov. 1, Cruz was arrested on a charge of transporting child pornography. The charge stemmed from federal agents discovering "allegedly illegal images" on Cruz's home computer, according to the U.S. Attorney's statement.

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The indictment follows the August arrest of resident Christopher Kice, who also was charged with possessing child pornography.

The FBI turned their attention to Kice after agents were alerted to his "possible involvement in the collection of child pornography by his employer, an unnamed Chicago area law firm where Kice was employed in the Information Technology Department," according to a statement released by the Bureau.

Forensic examination of Kice's computers and computer equipment yielded pornographic images of young girls, according to an affidavit penned by an FBI agent. Some of the photographs were taken in Kice's home, the affidavit said, and show the girls being fondled by the hand of an off-camera adult.

Kice, 41, of 1110 Callaway Drive W., remains in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago while his case is pending.


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