North Aurora man arrested after child pornography investigation
12/7/2020
North Aurora, IL – A North Aurora man was charged on Friday in connection with a child pornography investigation that spanned several months. Michael R. Pauls, 48, of the 600 block of Hammer Ln. on North Aurora’s east side was arrested on Thursday evening and charged Friday with:
- 2 counts of Possession of a Child Pornography video (class 2 Felonies)
- 2 counts of Possession of a Child Pornography photo (class 3 Felonies)
The investigation began on June 25, 2020 with a cyber tip from an email provider to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an email account contained suspected child pornography. The case was sent to the Illinois Attorney General’s office and then to the Aurora Police Department after the Internet Protocol address of the user showed to be in the Aurora area.
After Aurora Police investigators determined that the email account belonged to Pauls in North Aurora, the case was transferred to North Aurora Police on November 17th.
North Aurora Police obtained a search warrant for Pauls’ home and, with the assistance of the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, executed the search on Thursday, December 3rd. Recovered in the search were several electronic devices, including cellular phones, tablets, and laptops which revealed two pornographic videos and two pornographic photos of female children under the age of 18. Pauls’ was arrested and transported to the North Aurora Police Department. Forensic examination of the devices is ongoing, with the assistance of the Illinois Attorney General’s High Tech Crimes Bureau.
On Friday, December 4th, after reviewing the case, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office authorized the listed charges against Pauls. He appeared at a remote bond hearing on Saturday, where a judge set his bond at $75,000 / 10% to apply. He was transported to the Kane County Adult Justice Center where he later posted $7,500 and was released with the conditions to have no contact with anyone under the age of 13 and to refrain from the use of social media where children are present. He is scheduled to appear in court at 9:00 a.m. on January 28th, 2021 at the Kane County Judicial Center.
This case remains under investigation and charges are not proof of guilt. Pauls is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial, at which it is the burden of the State to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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For media inquiries, contact:
Deputy Chief Scott Buziecki
630-897-8705, ext. 752
