Charges Possible After Child Porn Forwarded On Facebook
CHICAGO (WBBM) - Cook County Sheriff's investigators are considering charges against everyone who forwarded a photo of a teenaged girl being sexually assaulted by a 24-year-old man.
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The photo was posted on Facebook.
Sheriff Tom Dart said the girl's mother called police after someone called her attention to it.
"How far it went we're not quite clear but we do know that the town where this occurred, Ford Heights, it appears as if a great deal of the town has seen the photograph," said Dart.
Dart said the photographer was Leroy Stephenson, 24, who sent the photo to several friends, one of whom posted it on Facebook. Stephenson was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault.
"Anybody that's in this loop, that's forwarding this photograph, is helping to distribute pornography, child pornography. That's a criminal offense. Will you go after them? Oh, absolutely," said Dart.
Stephenson started pursuing the girl when she was 13. They had a sexual relationship for about a year, starting when she was 15.
