Federal Agents Investigate Former Illinois Lawmaker For Child Pornography

State Rep. Keith Farnham (Tribune Photo)

An Illinois Democratic lawmaker, State Rep. Keith Farnham, abruptly resigned from office earlier this week a day after he won re-nomination to his seat in Tuesday's Democratic Party unopposed after it was learned that federal agents executed a search warrant on his district office and home in Elgin, Illinois earlier this month and seized several computers. Farnham cited health reasons for his resignation, but the contents of the search warrant executed on his office indicates that federal agents were searching for child pornography on his computer according to the Chicago Tribune. 

An attachment to the March 7 warrant to search Farnham’s district office indicated agents were searching for “documents in any format and medium pertaining to the possession, receipt or distribution of child pornography” as well as computer files, copies and negatives of child pornography or any documents that depicted minors “engaged in sexually explicit conduct.” Agents also sought accounts tied to any Internet service provider or computer file sharing, according to the records.

The Tribune reports that officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") also seized a laptop computer from his Illinois State House office on Thursday that he used for his legislative work.