Investigators have arrested a 74-year-old man after raiding his home in Wadsworth and discovering he allegedly downloaded nearly 200,000 files of child sexual abuse material, including some involving toddlers.
Steven C. Kazmer, 74, of Wadsworth, was charged with eight counts of dissemination of child sexual abuse material, a Class X felony.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, along with the Woodstock Police Department and the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, recently began an investigation into Kazmer.
The investigation began after the Lake County Cyber Crimes Lab received information that a suspect, later identified as Kazmer, was downloading and sharing explicit sexual abuse files involving children through a peer-to-peer network, prosecutors said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Waukegan Police Department, Illinois Attorney General’s Office and Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office carried out a search warrant at Kazmer’s home in the 4700 block of Pebble Beach Drive in Wadsworth on Wednesday.
Electronic storage detection canines Enzo and Grip also assisted in the search.
Enzo and Grip helped locate several electronic devices and Kazmer was taken into custody.
It was determined that Kazmer downloaded nearly 200,000 files of child sexual abuse material over 18 months, prosecutors said.
The Illinois Attorney General’s Digital Forensics Team recovered numerous child sexual abuse material files that were believed to have been deleted, prosecutors said.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Dino Katris said Kazmer admitted that he was sharing the material online and that he “cleaned his computer.”
“There is no higher priority in this office than finding, prosecuting, and detaining those who exploit and hurt children. Our Cybercrimes Unit continues to be a leader in Northern Illinois in helping us accomplish this mission,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said.
“Investigator Rob Beach and ESDK9 Grip are critical components of dozens of investigations right now. We will find these offenders, and they will be held accountable,” Rinehart said.
Kazmer appeared in First Appearance Court on Thursday morning and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him while he awaits trial.
A detention hearing was held on Thursday afternoon and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition to detain.
The judge noted the extremely high number of files recovered, along with the fact that some of the files depicted children as younger as toddlers.
Katris argued during the hearing that Kazmer is dangerous despite his lack of a criminal history. The prosecutor argued that he shows a high level of sophistication when it comes to the internet and electronic devices.
“Ending cash bail allows us to detain offenders like this. Under the cash system, more than 70% of these types of offenders were using their wealth to obtain release while their case was pending,” Rinehart said after the detention hearing.
“Now, because of this reform under the SAFE-T Act, we seek to detain all of them, and judges usually agree. It’s a system that helps protect our children,” Rinehart said.
Kazmer is scheduled to appear in court again on July 14 for a status of attorney hearing and then on August 5 for a preliminary hearing.