Crime & Safety
State Rep Lusted for Sex with Underage Girls, Traded in Kiddie Porn: FBI
Keith Farnham, who resigned after the feds raided his home and office, wrote "12 is about as old as i can handle. i love them at 6 7 8," according to the federal investigation.
CHICAGO — A recently resigned Illinois state representative who allegedly lusted for "all the vids and pics ever made" of kids doing porn now faces federal child pornography charges.
About five weeks ago, federal agents swept through the home and office of 66-year-old State Rep. Keith Farnham, seizing computers and other electronic devices, after the Department of Homeland Security learned an email address linked to the politician was being used to trade kiddie porn.
Two pornographic videos featuring children were found on a computer taken from Farnham's state legislative office, according to the federal complaint filed against him. Farnham will go before a federal judge on Wednesday.
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The computer with the explicit videos was stamped with a barcode and label: "PROPERTY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES." Other devices taken from his Elgin home and district legislative office contained "hundreds of images" of child pornography, too, according to the FBI. Investigators allege that the evidence shows some of the pornographic imagery was sent and received with the state-owned computers.
The Democrat, first elected to the Illinois General Assembly in 2008 to represent the Elgin area, was a painter by trade.
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Agents obtained a federal search warrant for Farnham's Internet activities in November 2013, according to the criminal complaint.
After investigators linked the Yahoo email address to Farnham, they obtained instant message chats in which Farnham, using the screen name kimdavid5582, allegedly yearned for more kiddie porn: "i wish i had access to all the vids and pics ever made."
In the complaint, the investigator writes: "According to information provided by Yahoo!, the subscriber name for 'kimdavid5582@yahoo.com' was a female individual named 'Kim David.' However, I further observed that a close relative of KEITH FARNHAM has a birthdate of '05/05/82,' and that the birthdate on file for the user of the 'kimdavid5582@yahoo.com' account was one day, one month, and one year different than KEITH FARNHAM’s birthdate."
Many of the instant messages sent through this account referred to Farnham's desire for sex with underage girls, according to the federal complaint.
"12 is about as old as i can handle. i love them at 6 7 8," reads one message sent via the kimdavid account, according to the complaint.
In another exchange, kimdavid5582 graphically describes molesting a 6-year-old girl, according to the complaint.
Farnham could face 10 years in prison if convicted.
The Daily Herald reached Farnham by cell phone on Monday and asked about the federal charges. Farnham replied: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Farnham was elected to the Illinois House in 2008, beating the Republican incumbent, Ruth Munson. He beat her again in 2010.
The Daily Herald also reached Farnham's lawyer, Terry Ekl, who said he did not know how his client would plead.
The federal complaint against Farnham can be read via this link. Be advised, the nature of the evidence alleged in the federal charging document is graphic.
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