A state police trooper in Deerfield, Illinois, is facing child pornography charges linked to the app known as Kik.
The suspect is identified as 38-year-old Illinois State Police Trooper Colin Gruenke, the Lake and McHenry County Scanner reported on Friday.
“A criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois said an investigation began last year after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report of the social networking platform Kik,” the article said.
Kik alerted authorities when it appeared someone was using a profile on the platform to upload and distribute files of child porn in September. Not long after the first tip was issued, Kik said another account was uploading and distributing files containing that form of material.
When those accounts were linked to the suspect and his home address, search warrants allowed officials to search the man and his residence.
“Agents conducted the search warrant for Gruenke at the Illinois State Police headquarters in Des Plaines on Wednesday and then conducted the warrant for the residence at his home shortly after,” the Scanner report said.
According to CBS News, the agents found evidence of deleted child porn on the cellphone he was holding at the time, and some of the images were reportedly of children whose ages were around four years old.
“Agents also executed a search warrant at his home, where they found a flash drive containing approximately 200 videos of child pornography, including numerous videos showing children being sexually abused by adults, including children as young as 10,” the CBS article read.
Gruenke, who was arrested Wednesday and placed on administrative leave without pay, is now the subject of an internal investigation by state police and is being held in custody.
In addition, ABC 7 reported the suspect was at one time a referee for a junior hockey league:
The Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois said in a statement, “Our records show that Mr. Gruenke last officiated for AHAI on Nov. 27, 2021, and has not been registered as a referee for our member teams and leagues since the 2021-22 season. Immediately upon learning of the charges against him, we notified all our affiliate organizations and encouraged anyone with information to contact law enforcement. We also submitted the information to the U.S. Center for SafeSport.”
The term child pornography is a widely used term, but calling it “child sexual abuse material” (CSAM) is more accurate, per the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN).
“While some of the pornography online depicts adults who have consented to be filmed, that’s never the case when the images depict children. Just as kids can’t legally consent to sex, they can’t consent to having images of their abuse recorded and distributed,” the site read.
“Every explicit photo or video of a kid is actually evidence that the child has been a victim of sexual abuse,” it noted.
Gruenke has been federally charged with a single count of distribution of child porn, and one count of possession of child porn.
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