DeKALB – A DeKalb man whose apartment was searched by police Wednesday which unearthed a substance that later had to be detonated by a bomb squad has been charged with possession of child pornography and failure to register as a sex offender.
Brenton C. Strobert, 26, of the 1100 block of W. Lincoln Highway, a resident of the Lincoln Tower apartment complex, faces child pornography and failure to register as a sex offender charges. If convicted of the more serious crimes of child pornography he could face up to 60 years in prison.
According to a news release from the DeKalb Police Department, DeKalb police assisted the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in initiating a search warrant of Strobert’s Lincoln Tower apartment shortly after 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The attorney general’s office obtained a search warrant for Strobert’s home after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip regarding an image of child pornography, and an investigation led the attorney general’s office to believe child pornography would be located at Strobert’s home.
During the search Wednesday morning, multiple images of child pornography were discovered, the release shows, along with a substance police believed warranted a call to the Kane County’s bomb squad.
In court Thursday, David Haslett, bureau chief for high tech crimes with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, said that investigators had found thousands of videos and images of child pornography on Strobert’s equipment.
Haslett also said that Strobert had used several programs, such as TOR internet browser and the Telegram texting app that would encrypt and hide is internet activity. On the Telegram app specifically, Haslett said Strobert was the administrator of a chat group with nearly 1,000 members.
In a private chat, Haslett said, Strobert had admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
According to court documents, the file names of some of the videos and images indicate children as young as 2-years-old involved, as well as animals.
Strobert previously pleaded guilty to child porn charges in 2015, according to court documents. He is required to register as a sex offender. According to court documents, when he last registered in December of 2018, he did not list his place of employment.
DeKalb interim Police Chief John Petragallo said Wednesday night booms heard around the city were the bomb squad safely destroying the substance at an off-site location under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the DeKalb Fire Department and the Kane County Bomb Squad.
DeKalb police arrested Strobert at his place of employment Wednesday, the release shows. An investigation into the suspicious substance is still ongoing, police said.
Strobert was released from DeKalb County Jail Thursday on his signature, but will be on electronic home monitoring and prohibited from contact with any children, using the internet, computers and all phones.
Judge Phillip Montgomery said, in ordering bond, that Haslett should make him aware of any further charges relating to the bomb making materials found in the apartment or the reported admission of sex with a minor and he would consider a motion to alter bond.
He is next due in DeKalb County court Dec. 6 at 9 a.m.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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