Articles Posted in Sex Crimes

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There are a lot of issues at play in this case that have nothing to do with justice or the adjudication of guilt for a crime. Ultimately, these issues may have caused Chicago prosecutors to take their chips off the board and play another game. However, at present, the sex crimes charges against R. Kelly in Chicago have been dropped. 

Many people, especially the victims, are angry that the prosecutors initiated the effort to build a case against Kelly and then decided not to pursue it. This has left the four Chicago victims with misgivings over the process of justice.

The state decided that the cost of prosecuting Kelly for these crimes was not worth it. Kelly is serving a 30-year sentence and will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 80. Kelly was convicted on various federal charges, including sex trafficking, enticement of a minor, and production of child pornography. However, he has never been convicted on the four counts of sexual assault he committed against the four Chicago victims.

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A former Dixmoor police officer is being held on $1 million bail after being found in possession of dozens of images of child pornography. The officer faces three felony charges related to the possession of child pornography. Police found 35 images on his phone. In some cases, the girls pictured on the phone were described as “prepubescent.” 

In some states, you can be charged for each image found in your possession. In Illinois, they will charge you for each depiction of a minor. In this case, three victims were found on the defendant’s phone. Hence, he is facing three felony charges related to the possession of child pornography. The same girl was found in several of the pictures. Police will track down the victim to determine if more criminal charges are justified. If the defendant created the pornography, then that is another crime the state can add to the ledger. 

Police were tipped off when child pornography was found in the account of the defendant’s email. The tip was sent to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which forwarded the tip to law enforcement, which confronted the officer and seized three phones from his possession, all of which contained the files in the tip. 

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Yes, the City of Chicago has a department that investigates every allegation of sexual abuse made against an employee of the city. Since its creation in 2018, it has handled over 1,700 complaints. This year, however, the unit fielded a record-high number of complaints, 470. The complaints ranged from the bizarre to the infuriating and have resulted in 16 cases being filed against school-affiliated employees. 

The district cautioned parents about interpreting the data. They claim that Chicago Public Schools do not have a higher rate of sex crimes than other districts. They remain one of the few districts to keep accurate records of sex crimes and report those to the media. According to CPS, paying better attention results in better information, which may result in shocking statistics. 

The district reminded parents that even though the volume is higher, in many cases, there would be no investigation regardless of the quality of the allegations. 

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Child sex abuse material (CSAM) remains a major concern for law enforcement. Today, the penalties for possession, dissemination, and creation of CSAM are higher than ever before. Part of the role that law enforcement plays is identifying victims. Today, it is possible to generate the face of a random individual that looks real. Could producers of CSAM use this technology to produce illegal pornography? Absolutely. 

But is it a crime?

What Remains Illegal?

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You have probably seen ads for AI image generators on social media and are wondering about the legality of that and how it can be legally used. Most of that remains unclear; today, it is possible to put major public figures into images and photos potentially doing compromising things. While on the one hand, this can be used in ugly and nefarious ways. On the other hand, it casts doubt on the veracity of all images. 

Revenge porn, child pornography, and other illegal forms of pornography seem now to have a legal avenue into the mainstream. While AI art-generating sites will prevent images with nudity from being generated, it remains within the realm of possibility to create images of an ex or illegal pornography for personal use. What does the law say about this?

It is illegal

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The Nonconsensual Pornography Act is a D.C. statute drafted in 2014 to address the problem of revenge porn. Recently, a 25-year-old Chicago man was charged under the statute after he posted several images of women without their consent. Several states have moved to criminalize revenge porn. Now, the 25-year-old Chicago man will spend the next five years in prison for unlawfully distributing sexual images of women without their consent. He was further accused of stalking witnesses who were to provide testimony against him.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful publication, two counts of stalking, and a felony count of making threats against a witness. 

Does Illinois Have a Revenge Porn Law?

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A Chicago man was arrested after the attempted rape of a female postal worker in Little Village over the weekend. According to the police report, the postal worker found the man waiting for her in her truck. An altercation ensued, and the postal worker was able to escape. However, the man then stole the mail truck. He has since been charged with attempted criminal sexual assault and vehicular hijacking. The postal worker was taken to a hospital and released.

The Post Office offered a $50,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the man’s arrest. The surveillance video image shows a clear shot of the defendant’s face. 

The defendant faces a litany of charges, any one of which could put him behind bars for decades or more. With the volume of major felonies he is facing, the defendant is unlikely to see the outside of a prison cell again. They have him at least on grand theft of government property and battery on a government employee. The victim will provide testimony as to the rest of the elements of the prosecution’s case involving attempted sexual assault. 

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A federal grand jury has indicted a Chicago police officer on charges of illegally detaining a trans woman and forcing her to perform sexual services against the threat of going to jail. The officer was a 29-year veteran with the force when he resigned in 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He also faced a civil complaint filed by the victim. The complaint was settled in 2020, but little is known about the details of the settlement. 

The same officer was accused in another complaint of sexual misconduct after demanding that a woman he had just pulled over follow him to an alley, where he proceeded to masturbate. That lawsuit was settled in 2019. Now, the officer is facing criminal charges related to sexual misconduct under the color of law. As of 2019, the officer had faced 44 complaints. The officer has been charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Since the allegations include sexual abuse, kidnapping, wrongful imprisonment, extortion, and whatever else, prosecutors will be looking to place the officer behind bars for as long as they possibly can. 

Analyzing the charges

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A 33-year-old Chicago man has been charged with enticement and coercion after blackmailing a Massachusetts teen into sending him pornographic images of herself. By the time he was caught, the man had collected hundreds of images of the teen under the threat of exposing her videos to the public. However, it was the teen who reported the conduct to law enforcement, thus resulting in the perpetrator’s arrest.

The perpetrator has since pleaded guilty to the crime and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison. 

Understanding the Allegations

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A former high school dean is facing disturbing charges that he had a sexual relationship with a former student while she was between the ages of 15 and 17. At one point, the dean posed as her stepfather and signed consent papers to have two abortions. The relationship is alleged to have begun in 2013 when the girl was 15. The former dean is accused of contacting the student over Snapchat and then initiating a sexual relationship that lasted for two years. The dean was terminated by the district in 2021 according to the current principal who sent a notice to parents. 

The relationship did not come to light until 2021 when the former student filed a police report after the principal attempted to contact her. The victim reported the incident to a teacher in 2015, but the teacher never reported the matter to the police, which why it took six years for charges to be filed against the former dean. 

The dean has been charged with criminal sexual assault after police obtained Snapchat messages and the medical consent forms for the two abortions. 

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