COOK COUNTY, IL – A 54-year-old Justice man has been charged after a Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigation found he had sent and received child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through his social media account, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
On Jan. 2, Sheriff’s Police Internet Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC) and Cyber Trafficking Unit (CTU) investigators began an investigation of a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children(NCMEC) about a social media account user that uploaded and sent sexually explicit images of children.
Sheriff’s Police investigators obtained search warrants for the account, confirmed the images were sexually explicit images of children, and traced the account to Daniel Gierut.
On March 17, investigators took Gierut into custody, interviewed him after issuing his Miranda warning, and executed a search warrant on his cell phone, where they found CSAM. The State’s Attorney’s Office declined charges at the time.
Investigators continued the investigation and learned that Gierut was connected to another NCMEC cybertip. Through additional search warrants, investigators learned that second account contained CSAM and confirmed that the account belonged to Gierut.
On June 9, investigators arrested Gierut at his home in the 7200 block of Skyline Drive in Justice. After investigators issued him his Miranda warning, Gierut admitted to possession and disseminating CSAM and asking other social media account users for CSAM. Later that day, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Gierut with Dissemination of Child Sexual Abuse Material, a Class X felony and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material, a Class 2 felony.
Gierut was ordered to Cook County Jail custody on June 10 following his initial court appearance at the Bridgeview Courthouse.
The public is reminded that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
