Channahon Cops Bust Morris Man for Distributing Child Pornography

An investigation that started in October 2012 has led to the arrest of a Morris man on charges of dissemination of child pornography.

Douglas Gene Pettit, 55, of the 700 block of E. Main Street, Morris, was taken into custody at about 12:30 p.m. Monday after Channahon police officers executed a search warrant at his residence and discovered “numerous files of known child pornography.”

Pettit is being held in the Will County Adult Detention Facility. His bond was set at $1 million in a hearing Tuesday, meaning he will need to come up with $100,000 in bail money to be released. His next court hearting is March 26.

Pettit is a registered child sex offender with a previous conviction for aggravated child pornography in Cook County in 2009, according to Channahon detective Adam Bogart.

Bogart—using law enforcement software—started an investigation into an IP address offering known child pornography in October 2012. Over time, he traced the IP address to Pettit, Bogart said.

“I downloaded items to my computer directly from his computer,” Bogart said. “He offered them for free. He’s running a software—it’s called Peer Networks—that operates like Napster used to with music. People can go look and download items for free.”

Because Bogart was able to download items from Pettit’s computer, he said the Channahon police department took jurisdiction on the case and officers subsequently were able to serve a search warrant on Pettit’s home in Morris.

Pettit faces charges in Will and Grundy counties, Bogart said. He added that items related to the investigation were confiscated from Pettit's home.

Bogart said no victims have been identified at this point.

“We’ll need to do further forensic analysis to ID any victims,” he said. “We’ll continue to investigate into the evidence we have. If anybody feels they’ve been a victim—or knows someone who has been a victim—I’d urge them to come forward and notify the police of any activity.”