People v. Sedelsky

2013 IL App (3d) 111402
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 26, 2013
Docket2-11-1042
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2013 IL App (3d) 111402 (People v. Sedelsky) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Sedelsky, 2013 IL App (3d) 111402 (Ill. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

2013 IL App (2d) 111042 No. 2-11-1042 Opinion filed September 26, 2013 ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court OF ILLINOIS, ) of Lake County. ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) No. 10-CF-1902 ) BRYAN SEDELSKY, ) Honorable ) Theodore S. Potkonjak, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE HUTCHINSON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Birkett and Spence concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 Following a jury trial, defendant, Bryan Sedelsky, was found guilty of three counts of

possession of child pornography (720 ILCS 5/11-20.1(a)(6) (West 2008)), and the trial court

sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment for each conviction, to run concurrently. Defendant

argues on appeal that one of his convictions should be vacated because two counts were based on

possession of an identical image stored in the same digital medium. We agree and reverse

defendant’s conviction of count III and vacate the corresponding sentence.

¶2 I. Background 2013 IL App (2d) 111042

¶3 On June 30, 2010, the State charged defendant by indictment with three counts of child

pornography. Count I related to possession of a computer image entitled

“yngbigirl1_o_50465483.jpg.” Count II related to possession of a computer image entitled

“yngbigirl1_0_50577108.jpg.” Count III related to possession of a computer image entitled

“yngbigirl1_0_50577109.jpg.”

¶4 A trial commenced on June 27, 2011. Blake DeWelde, a Round Lake Beach police officer,

testified that on June 7, 2010, he arrived at defendant’s apartment with other investigators to execute

a search warrant. Defendant admitted that he had accounts with a website known as Mbuzzy.

Defendant also turned over two cell phones that were admitted into evidence. Two T-Mobile phone

bills for defendant’s cell phone number were also retrieved and admitted into evidence. The bills

show defendant’s cell phone number but do not provide any details regarding uploaded images.

Defendant’s notebook, which contained information regarding his Mbuzzy accounts and numerous

website addresses, was retrieved and admitted into evidence.

¶5 Ryan Nobrega, vice president of products for Send Me, Inc., the parent company of Mbuzzy,

testified that Mbuzzy is a social network similar to Myspace or Facebook. The site allows users to

create account profiles, upload photographs, and chat with other users. The site works heavily with

mobile-phone users. Mbuzzy maintained records of user profiles as part of its ordinary course of

business. Nobrega identified Mbuzzy user profile information for the user names “yngbigirl1,

cuteguy2010, and iluvynggirls.” In December 2009, Nobrega had an employee named Wei Liu. Liu

handled all content moderation issues and supported the help desk. In December 2009, Liu made

a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) with Nobrega’s

knowledge and assistance. Nobrega identified People’s Exhibit Nos. 13, 14, and 15 as images

reported to NCMEC. People’s Exhibit No. 13 was an image with the file name

-2- 2013 IL App (2d) 111042

“yngbigirl1_0_50465483.jpg”; People’s Exhibit No. 14 was an image with the file name

“yngbigirl1_0_50577108.jpg”; and People’s Exhibit No. 15 was an image with the file name

“yngbigirl1_0_50577109.jpg.” Exhibit Nos. 13 and 14 contained the same image.

¶6 The images were being stored on Mbuzzy’s main server in California for username

“yngbigirl1.” Nobrega testified that defendant’s T-Mobile phone number was connected to the

Mbuzzy “yngbigirl1” account that uploaded these images. Nobrega explained that an Mbuzzy

customer could upload images from a computer, in which case an IP address would be seen. A

person could also use a cell phone, in which case the image would be sent to Mbuzzy’s computer

as an e-mail with an attachment. Mbuzzy’s computer would then pull the e-mail, process it, and

attach the image to the user’s account. Using People’s Exhibit No. 11, Nobrega identified that 25

media uploads were done from defendant’s phone on December 16, 2009, within a 4-minute time

span. People’s Exhibit No. 4 showed 25 thumbnail images taken from yngbigirl1’s Mbuzzy account;

4 images were identical to Exhibit Nos. 13 and 14; 3 images were identical to Exhibit No. 15.

People’s Exhibit No. 4 was not published, because defendant was not charged with possessing the

other photos. Exhibit No. 11 does not depict or otherwise identify what image was being sent to

Mbuzzy; it merely states “media_upload” and specifies that the upload address was defendant’s cell

phone number @tmomail.net. Nobrega was not asked whether these images were visible to any

other Mbuzzy user; he merely testified that the images were stored in defendant’s account.

¶7 Michael Bruns, an investigator with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, testified that in

early January 2010 he received a case from NCMEC involving defendant’s Mbuzzy account. Bruns

went to defendant’s home on June 7, 2010, and spoke to defendant and his aunt, Jody, who also lived

in the residence. He informed defendant that he was there, with other investigators, to execute a

search warrant. Defendant signed a Miranda waiver form and agreed to speak to Bruns. Defendant

-3- 2013 IL App (2d) 111042

admitted that he had a T-Mobile cell phone number and that he used his cell phone to access the

Internet, download pornography, download ringtones, play games, and send and receive text

messages. Defendant admitted that he had three accounts with Mbuzzy: cuteguy2010, yngbigirl1,

and iluvynggirls. Defendant admitted that he would search the Internet using search terms such as

“lolita, jailbait, YO 15, YO 16” to look for suspect images. Bruns had a copy of the image contained

in People’s Exhibit Nos. 13 and 14 and copies of multiple images that NCMEC had sent to him.

These images were labeled People’s Exhibit Nos. 3 and 4. Bruns showed these images to defendant,

who signed and dated the images. Defendant admitted that he found these images on the Internet

through his phone and uploaded them to his “yngbigirl1” Mbuzzy account. Bruns identified People’s

Exhibit Nos. 13, 14, and 15 as images found among the thumbnail images in Exhibit Nos. 3 and 4.

Bruns testified that defendant told him that Mbuzzy was an online storage space where he could store

images because his phone did not have enough memory. Defendant said that he had deleted his

Mbuzzy account and that it had been deleted for about six months, meaning he deleted the account

in December 2009. He told Bruns that he deleted it because the images he uploaded were “too

young.”

¶8 Dean Kharasch, an investigator with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office, testified that

the cell phones retrieved had defendant’s T-Mobile phone number, which he confirmed using cell

phone forensic software.

¶9 The jury returned guilty verdicts on all three counts. Defendant moved for a new trial, and

the trial court denied that motion. The court sentenced defendant to concurrent five-year prison

terms.

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