Some additional details are surfacing about the New Berlin man arrested for child pornography and a subsequent search of his residence.
57 year old Scott A. Gentry was arrested on January 24th after a co-worker reportedly witnessed Gentry viewing a photo of a naked young girl on his phone at work. After Gentry supposedly told police there were “a lot” of pictures of minors on his phone, over 3,000 photos and videos of children as young as 3 years old and as old as teenagers involved in sexual acts were found stored on his device. Gentry is being investigated by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the New Berlin Police Department.
A search warrant was recently conducted at Gentry’s house in the 40 block of Bourbaki Avenue. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell details the course of the local investigation.
“The case was actually initiated by the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. During a subsequent investigation, they learned that he lived in New Berlin. That’s when they contacted our detectives. The result of an investigation and search of the suspect’s home residence was a lot of child pornography, in various forms, in and around the residence.”
Sheriff Campbell explains how his office keeps consistent contact with other agencies involved in the investigation.
“Macon County Sheriff’s Office is one of our key law enforcement partners, as well as the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the New Berlin Police Department. In this case, all of us were involved. It shows the type of cooperation and that we’re willing to work together to find out how we can benefit each other and, really, bring a person like Gentry to justice. It’s key that law enforcement agencies share information and assist each other in any manner. It is also important to note that this case could go federal. We’ll eventually partner with the FBI and come together to make a decision. Honestly, the idea is to see what direction we need to go to keep Gentry behind bars longer, whether that be in the state judicial system or the federal courts.”
The Sangamon County Sheriff was unable to provide any additional information at this time. Gentry was arrested on Jan. 24th and is in Macon County custody on $100,000 bond.