Reward Offered for Fugitive Child Pornographer

A reward of up to $10,000 was announced today for information leading to the location and arrest of a former Bolingbrook man wanted for possession and distribution of child pornography. The reward offer was announced today by 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 Bolingbrook, has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt, conducted by special agents assigned to 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 last month when a federal grand jury in Chicago charged him with distribution of child pornography, which is also a felony offense.

According to the initial complaint, a laptop computer and 29 CDs belonging to SANCHEZ were recovered from a 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 exhibiting their genitals.

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 announced today.

RUBEN SANCHEZ is described as a Hispanic male, 38 years of age, 5’7” tall, 140 pounds, medium build, black hair, and brown eyes. He is now believed to have short hair and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache with a spider tattoo on his forearm. SANCHEZ was last known to be working as a bouncer or bartender in bars and nightclubs in the Rush Street area of Chicago.

A wanted flyer with a photograph of SANCHEZ accompanies this release. Anyone recognizing him or having any information which might be relevant to this investigation is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700.

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.

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 an indictment is 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.