‘Zero tolerance’: Pre-trial release denied for Itasca man accused of child porn possession, dissemination

ITASCA, Ill. (WGN) — Pre-trial release has been denied for an Itasca man after authorities allegedly uncovered dozens of child pornography videos on his phone.

James Napravnik, a 19-year-old Itasca resident, is facing a slew of felony charges, including six counts of dissemination of child pornography and five counts of possession of child pornography.

The charges were handed down following a months-long investigation after authorities received a tip about possible child pornography, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said Tuesday,

On December 24, 2024, authorities in DuPage County received a tip from the Internet Crimes Against Children Data System about two linked cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding possible dissemination and possession of child porn.

On Dec. 30, 2024, officers again received a notice related to Napravnik’s alleged activities, regarding the possible dissemination or possession of nine child pornography files.

After an investigation into the tips led authorities to an IP address that was allegedly owned by Napravnik, they obtained a search warrant for his home and executed it on Friday, May 2.

During the search, authorities recovered Napravnik’s cell phone and allegedly found seventy-four videos of child pornography on it.

Further investigation revealed that Napravnik had also allegedly used an online messaging app to share the child pornography files.

“As I have said many times in the past, child pornography is not a victimless crime,” Berlin said. “Each one of these disgusting images represents yet another victim of child pornography. The charges filed against Mr. Napravnik and Judge Panoushis’ order to detain him pre-trial sends the strong message that DuPage County has zero tolerance for this type of behavior and will aggressively pursue anyone suspected in engaging in such.”

Napravnik is set to return to court on June 2.