ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – A Lake St. Louis man is in jail for allegedly downloading child sexual abuse material (CASM) to his electronic device in late December 2023.
According to the St. Charles County Police Department’s probable cause statement, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cyber tip from the social media messaging app Kik.
The app identified 29 files of suspected child pornography, and connected the illicit material to an IP address, email address, and user name in Lake St. Louis.
St. Charles County police reviewed the content logs from the Kik account and claim James C. Cook (age not provided) received approximately 50 videos containing CSAM. The probable cause statement describes three of the videos, which we will not recount due to their graphic nature.
Police went to Cook’s home on February 29 and took him into custody.
Investigators claim Cook admitted to looking at child pornography beginning six months prior and only stopped after his Kik account was suspended. He admitted downloading the CSAM to his cellphone.
A detective asked Cook if he’d ever had sexual contact with a minor. Cook admitted to having inappropriate contact with a family member. Police met with the family member, who confirmed Cook’s story.
The St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Cook with one count of possession of child pornography. Cook is due in court next week for a bond hearing.
