March 25--A southwest suburban man was charged with possessing and distributing child pornography Thursday after an investigation found him using a file-sharing program to download several files containing explicit images of young children, according to prosecutors.
Jason Jefferies, 34, of Alsip, was charged with dissemination of child pornography, a Class X felony, and possession of child pornography as a result of an investigation by the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to a press release from the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Task force investigators identified an IP address that was a potential source of child pornography using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program, prosecutors said. They found that the address where the child pornography was being downloaded belonged to Jefferies.
Officers searched Jefferies' home and found multiple computers. Numerous files containing pictures and videos of children of various ages depicted in sex acts, including multiple images downloaded during the initial investigation, were found during a preliminary scan of the computers, prosecutors said.
A hearing was held at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview on Thursday, and bond was set at $1 million by Judge Peter Felice. Jefferies' next court date is set for April 14.
