Madigan: Two McHenry County arrests in child pornography crackdown

Attorney general's ‘Operation Glass House' nets state's top trader of child pornography

[December 23, 2013]  CHICAGO — Last week, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced the arrests of two McHenry County men for felony possession of child pornography, including the state's top trader of child pornography, following raids in Woodstock and Algonquin.

The arrests bring the total to 54 arrests in "Operation Glass House," Madigan's statewide initiative to apprehend the most active offenders who download and trade child pornography online.

"Online child pornography is a horrific crime that victimizes children each time an image is downloaded or traded," Madigan said. "My office has been — and will continue to be — relentless in tracking down and apprehending offenders who trade these gruesome videos."

David M. Wolters, 58, of Woodstock, was charged Dec. 18 with five counts of possession of child pornography, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Wolters is being held in the McHenry County Jail, with bond set at $50,000.

Madigan's investigators, with the assistance of the Woodstock Police Department and the McHenry County state's attorney's office, executed a search warrant early Dec. 18 at Wolters' residence in the 1400 block of Walnut Drive, where evidence of alleged child pornography was located.

"We are appreciative of the cooperation of Attorney General Madigan's office in helping us make this arrest and to address such a serious situation in our community," said Woodstock Police Chief Robert Lowen.

Robert A. Huggins, 63, of Algonquin, was identified as the state's highest volume trader of child pornography at the time of his arrest. He was charged with five counts of Class X reproduction of child pornography, punishable by six to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and five counts of Class 2 child pornography. Huggins was transported to the McHenry County Jail on Dec. 19, pending a bond hearing the next day.

Algonquin police assisted Madigan's investigators in a search early Friday at Huggins' residence in the 2100 block of Honey Locus Drive, where evidence of child pornography was found.

"Cooperation among agencies is critical to the safety of our communities," said Algonquin Police Chief Russell Laine. "The technical expertise of the attorney general's staff was instrumental to a successful operation."

The office of McHenry County's state's attorney will prosecute the cases. The public is reminded that the defendants in these cases are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Madigan's office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. Since 2006, the ICAC Task Force has been involved in 641 arrests of sexual predators. The task force has also provided Internet safety training and education to more than 313,000 parents, teachers and students, and to nearly 17,000 law enforcement professionals. Currently 189 agencies are affiliated with the Illinois ICAC.

[Text from file received from the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan]