An Evanston firefighter was charged Aug. 17 with distribution of child pornography after undercover federal agents caught him in an online chatroom.
Thomas S. Erpelding, 52, was arrested without incident in his Skokie home Aug. 15, according to FBI reports and Evanston Fire Chief Alan Berkowsky. After 27 years with the Evanston Fire Department, he resigned on Aug. 31, Berkowsky said.
“This is definitely the first (resignation) I can remember,” Berkowsky said. “But the FBI made it clear there was no connection between his home life and his Evanston employment.”
Erpelding appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Ashman in U.S. District Court on Aug. 17. After the hearing, Erpelding was placed in jail, where he is being held without bail until his next court appearance. His charge is a felony and he faces a mandatory minimum of five years in jail if he is convicted of the offense. Court clerks said the case was sealed and could not release further court dates.
Federal agents from the FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force investigated Erpelding after an agent had an online conversation with him last fall while Erpelding was using the screen name “eagor,”according to the FBI reports. During the conversation, the agent posed as a teenage girl and allegedly received an e-mail from “eagor” with a pornographic photograph attached, according to the FBI report.
Task force members searched his computer in June, where they found more than 100 pornographic images of children, the report stated.
A 1995 national initiative created Innocent Images task forces across the country, aiming to investigate online sexual predators and decrease child exploitation. Chicago’s task force combines FBI agents, state police and detectives from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department.
“If he did what he has been accused of, it’s a horrendous crime,” Berkowsky said. “We’re extremely disappointed.”
Chuck Lowney, 32, said he wasn’t surprised to hear about the child pornography case.
“It could be anybody,” the Round Lake Beach, Ill., resident said. “It could be the president, a neighbor, anyone.”
More extensive background checks should be done, Lowney said. The solution is more hard-core jail time, he said.
“There’s no rehab for it,” Lowney said. “It’s ten times worse than drugs. You can get rid of drugs, but there will always be kids around.”
Erpelding’s lawyer, James Graham, was unavailable for comment.
