The 39-year-old Worship Minister at the Calumet Street Christian Church made his first appearance in Marion County Court on Thursday on four counts of child pornography.
Ian Mophet of Edgewood Lane had been arrested at the church on Wednesday following an investigation that began in August when the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force picked up on child pornography activity in the Centralia area.
He has been charged with two Class X felony child pornography charges for allegedly having a video of a female child under 18 committing sexual acts that was downloaded to a DropBox account. The other two Class Two felony charges are for having possession of the same video.
Judge Jeff Delong denied a request by prosecutors to hold Mophet without bond pending further action in the court. However, his release came with restrictions including GPS home confinement, no contact with anyone under 18, no contact with the church, possessing no internet-capable devices, having no internet access, and giving police consent to search at any time. Mophet will be allowed to get mental health counseling.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Detective Bobby Wallace says the forensic evidence evaluation is just beginning and additional counts are possible.
In a Facebook post, the church says after hearing the evidence from Illinois State Police, Maphet was terminated from his position at the church.
