Former Illinois state representative sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for transporting child pornography

CHICAGO — Former Illinois State Rep. Keith Farnham was sentenced Thursday to eight years in federal prison for transporting child pornography via computers in his office and residence last year.

This sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago.

Farnham resigned his seat in the Illinois General Assembly in March 2014, less than a week after HSI special agents seized computers from his home and office.

Farnham, 67, of Elgin, Illinois, was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and must report to prison May 19. He will remain on a bond that restricts him to his home and requires around-the-clock electronic monitoring.

Farnham pleaded guilty in December 2014, admitting that on Nov. 25, 2013 he sent an email from a computer in his Elgin office with the following message: "do you trade. This is what I like." Farnham attached two files to the email that he knew contained child pornography. In addition, he possessed images and videos depicting child pornography on computers and electronic storage devices in his residence, car and offices.

During the course of this investigation, HSI special agents executed federal search warrants at Farnham’s state office and Elgin’s residence, and seized computers and electronic storage devices. On the day the warrants were executed in March 2014, Farnham possessed no fewer than 2,765 images of real minors engaged in sexually explicit acts, including sexual intercourse with prepubescent children. Some of these images involved sadistic or masochistic conduct and depictions of violence, according to Farnham’s guilty plea.

"This is a despicable crime," said U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang while imposing sentence. "The sex assaults of children in each of the 2,700 images represent their own nightmare."

According to the court documents, HSI special agents were investigating information received from the HSI Cyber Crimes Center that an email address, later linked to Farnham, was being used to trade child pornography on the Internet.

The government stated the following in its sentencing memorandum: "The defendant’s criminal conduct extends far beyond simply viewing sexually explicit photographs online. The defendant actively traded and bartered images and videos depicting child pornography, bragged to others about his own hands-on sexual abuse and exploitation of a six-year-old girl, and actively hid his tracks from law enforcement in order to continue his criminal conduct. As an elected official, the defendant held himself out as being concerned about ‘protecting your children on the internet’ at the same time, however, he led another life, surfing the internet and message boards for sexually explicit images and further victimizing children of sexual abuse and exploitation."

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Storino and Michelle Petersen, Northern District of Illinois, prosecuted this case.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.