A 25-year-old woman from Zion, Illinois, has been charged with possessing child sexual abuse material after detectives searched her home and seized electronic devices, authorities said.
Rebekah Denise Smith was charged with two counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, both Class 2 felonies, following an investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Cybercrime detectives began their inquiry after learning that images and videos involving children under 13 were allegedly being shared from an electronic device in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Investigators traced the device to a property in the 1700 block of Joppa Avenue, Zion, and obtained a search warrant.
The warrant was executed on Thursday by sheriff’s detectives, electronic detection canines and members of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Devices belonging to Smith were seized and allegedly contained the material, officials said.
Authorities said Smith was due to appear in court on Friday morning. She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said protecting children remained the department’s highest priority.
“There is no higher priority than protecting children from those who seek to exploit them,” he said. Idleburg praised the sheriff’s Internet Crimes Against Children Team and said resources would continue to be devoted to identifying and prosecuting people accused of exploiting children online.
