SYCAMORE – A DeKalb man has been arrested on child pornography charges after police executed a search warrant and found videos on his computer of children engaged in sexual acts.

Joshua M. Ridgeway, 22, of the 800 block of Regent Drive in DeKalb, appeared Thursday at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore via closed-circuit television from the DeKalb County Jail. Ridgeway is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, and 11 counts of aggravated possession of child pornography.

Four of the aggravated counts are Class X felonies, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Those are nonprobationary offenses, so if convicted on any of those four counts, Ridgeway would receive a minimum sentence of six years in prison.

The more serious Class X felony charges are because of Ridgeway reportedly not only possessing but also disseminating the materials.

According to court documents, on March 31, a police investigator was able to connect through a peer-to-peer sharing network to another computer and download five videos featuring sexual content of underage people. Four of the videos contained females under the age of 13.

An investigation led to an Internet Protocol address that belonged to Ridgeway, and police obtained a warrant for his residence, court records indicate. Authorities said that a forensic review of Ridgeway's laptop computer Wednesday found 52 files with titles suggesting they depict children engaged in sexual acts. Prosecutor Victor Escarcida, of the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office, said the computer is being sent to a forensic lab for further investigation.

Ridgeway told Circuit Judge Robbin Stuckert that he is from Wheeling, but living in DeKalb as a student, and his only income is from student financial aid.

Stuckert appointed the DeKalb County Public Defender's Office to represent Ridgeway, and set his bond at $200,000. He will need to post $20,000 to be released from jail. He is next due in court May 17.