A 30-year-old Skokie man, free on bond while awaiting trial in a federal child pornography case, was charged with two new counts of child pornography following an undercover operation, according to federal prosecutors.
Ronald Feder was charged Thursday with knowingly transporting and distributing child pornography after he allegedly handed an undercover agent a portable hard drive that contained the images, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in federal court in Chicago.
A detention hearing on the new charges is scheduled for Dec. 13 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole in Chicago.
The court document filed Dec. 8 in U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division by Homeland Security Special Agent Nathan Cravatta includes details of online communication that allegedly occurred between Feder and the undercover agent for nearly three weeks.
The two met in a Lincolnwood coffee shop Thursday where Feder provided the hard drive and was subsequently arrested, according to the complaint.
The complaint states that the undercover agent initially advertised on Craigslist.com in November that “I have a taboo request but do not want to put in title or in post. I am seeking something that is not easy to talk about or ask just any random stranger.”
Feder used online aliases in responding to the undercover agent to discuss and share child pornography, the complaint states.
Eventually, Feder told the undercover agent his real first name and described his interests in child pornography during online exchanges and telephone calls in November and December, the complaint states.
“Hundreds of messages” were exchanged online between Feder and the undercover agent, according to the complaint, including images and videos of child pornography. There were also multiple phone calls, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Feder offered to trade images of child pornography with the undercover agent in exchange for the agent setting up an encounter between Feder and the undercover agent’s underage nephew and niece where Feder would molest them, the complaint states.
“Maybe I could play with (your) nieces and nephews and you could watch,” Feder is quoted as saying in the complaint. Feder suggested to the agent that he tell the children he is a sex ed teacher, the complaint states.
The complaint states that Feder “discussed plans and strategies for molesting (the undercover agent’s) minor relatives, requested images of said minor relatives, discussed the size of his collection of child pornography (indicating that he has 70-80 gigabytes of child pornography) and sent the (undercover agent) images containing child pornography.”
The complaint states that Feder sent a video and photos to the undercover agent using a secure messaging application before the pair met.
Before the latest alleged incidents, Feder was indicted in September 2016 for allegedly possessing a sexually explicit image of child under age 12, according to federal officials.
The conduct allegedly occurred while Feder was working as a civilian employee of the Armed Forces and living overseas. Feder pleaded not guilty to that charge and was ordered released on bond with a condition that prohibited him from accessing the Internet, according to federal officials.
