Former state Rep. Keith Farnham was charged Monday with possessing child pornography in a federal complaint that claims the Democrat traded lurid content online from his legislative office in Elgin.
Farnham, 66, is accused of having two videos depicting child pornography on a state-owned computer that federal agents seized in March from his office.
An affidavit claims Farnham used a Yahoo email address to chat about child pornography, get videos that show lurid acts performed on children and trade material with “dozens of individuals in which hundreds of images and videos of suspected child pornography were sent and received.”
“(I) wish i had access to all the vids and pics ever made,” a message from the address linked to Farnham says.
Farnham was not arrested and has been largely silent about the raid since resigning shortly afterward, citing health reasons. He’s set to have a first court appearance Wednesday.
Reached on his cellphone shortly after the charges were made public Monday, Farnham said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Asked about searches of his home and office, Farnham said he “can’t comment” and referred questions to his attorney, Terry Ekl.