Waukegan man arrested on child pornography charges allegedly had nearly 200 photos and videos

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — A Lake County man is facing a handful of felony charges after authorities said they allegedly uncovered nearly 200 pictures and videos of child pornography on his laptop.

21-year-old Brandon Roberson, a Waukegan resident, has been charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.

According to deputies, the investigation into Roberson began after detectives received a tip from an online cloud storage website informing them that a user had allegedly uploaded child pornography to the platform.

Detectives were able to determine that the files were likely being uploaded from a residence in the 1100 block of Gladys Court in Waukegan.

Detectives then went to the home and spoke to one of the residents, who was later identified as Roberson. Following their conversation, detectives took possession of Roberson’s laptop.

The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit conducted a forensic analysis of the laptop which allegedly revealed nearly 200 images and videos containing child pornography.

According to deputies, some of the files depicted children as young as toddlers being sexually assaulted. 

After an arrest warrant and a search warrant for Roberson’s home were approved by a judge, sheriff’s detectives, Illinois Attorney General’s Office Cybercrime Investigators, and Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office Investigators took Roberson into custody on Thursday and seized several devices with electronic storage from his home.

Deputies said the additional devices will be forensically analyzed.

“Protecting our children from those who seek to harm them is among our highest priorities. Our detectives work tirelessly to identify and apprehend child predators, and this arrest is a testament to their dedication,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said. “We are grateful for the invaluable collaboration with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, as it takes a united effort to bring these offenders to justice. We will continue to use every available resource to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Roberson is currently being held at the Lake County jail and will appear in court for a detention hearing on Friday.