Fugitive Child Pornographer Arrested in Chicago

A former Bolingbrook resident wanted for possession and distribution of child pornography was arrested Friday evening in Chicago, announced Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

RUBEN SANCHEZ, age 38, whose last known address was in the 100 block of South Pinecrest Road in the southwest suburb, had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt, coordinated by the Chicago FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force (IITF) since February of 2009, after being charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of possession of child pornography, which is a felony offense. The charges against SANCHEZ were upgraded two months ago, when a federal grand jury in Chicago charged him with distribution of child pornography, which is also a felony offense.

SANCHEZ was found Friday evening, hiding in an apartment in the 2000 block of North Kenneth Street in Chicago, which he was sharing with another man. The arrest was made without injuries, although SANCHEZ did brandish what turned out to be a pellet gun at the arresting agents. He also tried to flee out a back door to the apartment, but was apprehended without incident by waiting agents.

Investigators were led to the apartment by an alert member of the public, who saw recent news media accounts detailing SANCHEZ’s case and recognized his photograph.

According to the initial complaint, which was filed in 2009, a laptop computer and 29 CDs belonging to SANCHEZ were recovered from his Bolingbrook residence during a search that was conducted in 2008. A forensic analysis of the laptop and CDs discovered numerous images of minor children engaged in explicit sexual activity and/or lewd images of minor children.

Subsequent investigation by the IITF developed evidence linking SANCHEZ to the laptop computer and CDs containing the child pornographic images. Additional evidence was also developed, indicating that SANCHEZ had sent the pornographic images to others, resulting in the additional charges.

SANCHEZ appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Cox in Chicago Saturday morning, at which time he was formally charged. SANCHEZ was ordered held without bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance. Until then, SANCHEZ will be held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

If convicted of the charges filed against him, SANCHEZ faces a possible sentence of up to 30 years’ incarceration. However, the public is reminded that neither a complaint nor indictment are evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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 Innocent Images Task Forces in various FBI offices around the country, which are investigating similar cases.

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.