A Vandalia man charged with 8 counts of possession and 2 counts of disseminating child pornography was found guilty of all counts during a bench trial today. 37-year old Ryan J. Koontz of Vandalia appeared in Fayette County Court on Wednesday with attorney Ed Veltman for bench trial. During the bench trial, the state called two witnesses, Illinois Attorney General’s Office Investigator Tom Verola and Computer Forensics Examiner Steven Strahm. Following direct and cross examination of both witnesses the state rested its case. Defense attorney Veltman announced that he would call no witnesses as his defendant was initiating his right to not testify. Following closing arguments and time for Judge Marc Kelly to review the evidence and testimony, Kelly announced his verdict of guilty on all ten counts saying the state had met its burden on the possessing charges and the dissemination charges. A pre-sentencing investigation will be completed include psychological and sex offender evaluations and a sentencing hearing is set for April 20 at 9am.
We will have more on this story as well as reaction to the verdict from Fayette County State’s Attorney Josh Morrison tomorrow on Newscenter.