Southwest Suburban Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the arrest of LARRY DEAN MOBLEY, age 52, of 7913 South 83rd Avenue in Justice, Illinois. MOBLEY was arrested in Elmhurst, Illinois Thursday afternoon, without incident, by special agents assigned to the Chicago FBI's Innocent Images Task Force (IITF).

MOBLEY was charged in a criminal complaint filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of receipt of child pornography, which is a felony offense. According to the complaint, MOBLEY was identified by the IITF as a possible recipient of child pornography over the Internet. A search of MOBLEY's residence was conducted in January of 2008, pursuant to a federal search warrant. During the search, a personal computer belonging to MOBLEY was seized. A subsequent examination of this computer discovered over 2,500 suspected images of minor children engaged in sexually explicit activity.

MOBLEY appeared before Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in Chicago, Friday afternoon, at which time he was formally charged. MOBLEY was released on bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance. If convicted of the charge filed against him, MOBLEY faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ incarceration to a maximum of 20 years.

The FBI's Innocent Images initiative was established in 1996 and is part of a nationwide effort to combat the manufacture, distribution, and possession of child pornography. At present, there are 43 separate IITF's in various FBI offices around the country which are investigating similar cases.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Copies of the criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI's press office at (312) 829-1199.