Bond has been set at a half-million dollars for a 56-year-old Mt. Vernon man who has been charged in Jefferson County Court with ten counts of possession of child pornography under the age of 13 and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse under the age of 13.
Darren Meyer was taken into custody late Thursday afternoon when Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputies and Mt. Vernon Police responded to a home in the 12000 block of North Sparrow Lane in Mt. Vernon where a disturbance was reportedly underway and Meyer was allegedly armed with a knife.
The sheriff’s department reports Meyer was already a suspect for child pornography and aggravated criminal sexual abuse from an ongoing investigation that had included a search warrant being served on the home on North Sparrow Lane on August 21st to seize electronic devices.
The investigation began on August 15th when the sheriff’s office received a call reporting a 14-year-old girl was a possible victim of voyeurism by her step-grandfather. A release from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department says it was further reported it was suspected the step-grandfather was involved in child pornography. At a preliminary interview at the sheriff’s department by the adult contact and the juvenile girl, it was determined she was also a possible victim of sexual abuse at the hands of the step-grandfather. A forensic interview followed at the Amy Center before the search warrant was sought.
A preliminary hearing was set for September 21st at two p.m.
