James R. Wallace, 35, entered the plea during his arraignment Tuesday before Judge Mark Levitt in Lake County Circuit Court. 

Wallace, who had been an active duty staff sergeant prior to the materials being discovered, turned himself in to authorities after a warrant for his arrest was issued Aug. 17. His bail was set at $500,000. 

Wallace posted 10 percent of that amount to bond out of Lake County Jail shortly after his arrest. 

He was charged with several counts of child pornography possession following an investigation by the Cyber Crimes Division of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, with the assistance of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). 

“Within our office, we have deployed more attorneys to fight cyber crimes including child pornography. Our aggressive work through ICAC has vastly increased our ability to detect and prosecute these perpetrators. This investigations exemplifies the growing need to protect the community and why we must continue to invest in technology and personnel,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said. 

The Cyber Crimes Division started the investigation after receiving a tip regarding an individual with access to a digital drop box that contained illegal pictures of children. 

Child pornography was discovered in Wallace’s phone during examination by the State’s Attorney’s Office Cyber Lab. 

He initially was charged with four felony counts of child pornography, but now faces eight counts after additional counts were added when more evidence was uncovered, including two videos of minors found in his possession along with the still pictures. 

Levitt set Wallace’s next court appearance for Oct. 25 to address a defense motion on bond modification issues, including restrictions related to his new employment. He is not allowed contact with children or unauthorized internet use, and continues to be monitored by pretrial bond services.