Judge says McHenry man ‘creates an appetite’ for images of child sex abuse, detains him in county jail

A McHenry man – who prosecutors said Thursday refuses to give investigators passcodes to his electronics – is accused of possessing and sharing 14 images of child sex abuse on the Kik messaging app.

Nicolas Riener, 24, is charged with five Class X felony counts of reproducing or distributing images of child sex abuse of children younger than 13, plus nine counts of possessing images of children younger than 13 being sexually abused, Judge Cynthia Lamb said Thursday during Riener’s first court appearance.

Lamb found that he presents a danger to the community and granted the state’s petition to detain him pretrial in McHenry County jail.

According to a news release from McHenry police, Riener was arrested Wednesday after the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program “reported receiving a cybertip that a McHenry resident had been uploading and downloading child pornography.”

The tip led to an investigation by the McHenry Police Department and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, according to the release. A search warrant was executed, interviews were conducted and evidence was collected, resulting in Riener’s arrest.

Assistant State’s Attorney Daniel Conroy said in court Thursday that authorities received a tip from the Kik messaging app that a user was sharing the images and launched the investigation.

Authorities seized Riener’s electronics, but he has not provided passcodes to the devices, the prosecutor and judge said. As of Thursday afternoon, Lamb said neither police nor investigators from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office have so far not been able to unlock his devices.

Conroy said Riener poses an “extremely high” level of dangerousness to the community, specifically children. If released from jail, Riener, who shows a “sophisticated” knowledge of how to use the internet and keep such images hidden, could easily find new electronic devices and continue to access such content, the prosecutor said. Viewing and sharing images of child sex abuse feeds a “global market with high demand,” Conroy said.

He added that the 14 images in Riener’s case already represent 14 cases of children being sexually abused.

“Child pornography can’t exist without child sex abuse already [occurring] so he could possess and share these images,” Conroy said. “House arrest would only return him to the scene of a crime.”

Assistant Public Defender David Giesinger argued for Riener’s release, saying there are no children where he lives or works and there is “no indication he approached or interacted [inappropriately] with any minors or [created] any images.” Additionally, the defense attorney said, not giving up passcodes to authorities is not an indication of dangerousness but of a defendant exercising Fifth Amendment rights, which protect against self-incrimination.

In response to the prosecutor saying Riener is feeding a global market, Giesinger said: “Locking him up ... will have absolutely no effect on that demand.”

But Lamb agreed with prosecutors and detained Riener. She said he is a danger to the community and “even at his young age” already “creates an appetite” for possessing and sharing images of child sex abuse.

Riener is due in court Aug. 25. Convictions on Class X felonies, the most serious offenses filed against Riener, carry a sentence of six to 30 years in prison.