Wisconsin Man Charged in Federal Court With Possessing Child Pornography on International Flight to Chicago

CHICAGO - A Wisconsin man was charged today in federal court with possessing child pornography on a flight from Tanzania to Chicago.

ECA BARUANI, 36, of Green Bay, Wisc., possessed videos of child pornography on his cell phone when he flew from the United Republic of Tanzania to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Thursday, according to a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Upon arrival at O'Hare, Baruani was selected for secondary customs inspection by United States Customs and Border Protection, the complaint states. After observing what appeared to be images of child pornography on Baruani's cell phone, CBP officers handed the phone to Homeland Security Investigations special agents for a manual search, the complaint states. HSI agents searched the phone and discovered multiple videos of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct with adults, the complaint states. Baruani was taken into custody.

The complaint charges Baruani with one count of possession of child pornography. The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Baruani was expected to make an initial appearance on Friday afternoon in federal court in Chicago.

The complaint was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of HSI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Pope.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.comLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.