Federal prosecutors last week argued that former North Riverside resident Michael Gruber should be sentenced to between 10 and 12.5 years for downloading and distributing what they characterized as a “massive” collection of child pornography.
Judge James B. Zagel on Jan. 6 agreed for the fourth time to delay the sentencing of Gruber, who pleaded guilty to two counts of child pornography in January 2010. Sentencing is now scheduled for Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. in Illinois Northern District court.
The latest delay, according to court records, is to allow time for a doctor to complete a psychological evaluation of the 55-year-old Gruber. The results of such an evaluation could soften the sentence handed down by Zagel.
On Jan. 11, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald filed with the court a sentencing memorandum, calling for a sentence that “will assure a lengthy separation from children and child pornography. It will give Gruber an opportunity for reflection and treatment in a structured setting, separated from the Internet, and from young children.”
Fitzgerald also argued that after serving his prison sentence, Gruber be subjected to lifetime court supervision.
The filing describes in greater detail just how much child pornography Gruber amassed and how he distributed it to others through an instant-messaging program on his home computer.
Gruber “did not acquire just one or two or 10 child pornographic images or videos,” Fitzgerald stated. “He collected them by the tens of thousands.” A longtime firefighter and lieutenant for the Stickney Fire Department, Gruber was “obsessed” with child porn, according to Fitzgerald.
The FBI raided Gruber’s North Riverside home in 2008 after he distributed child pornographic images to an undercover agent during “several chat sessions” that year.
“In total, Gruber possessed more than 43,000 images of child pornography,” Fitzgerald stated. “Gruber sorted, categorized and catalogued some of his collection by creating user folders. He also labeled most of the 51 compact discs by age group. In other words, Gruber so cherished his voluminous collection of child pornography that he meticulously organized it, and rather than deleting it, he transferred it to compact discs when he ran out of space on his hard drive.”
While Gruber has no prior criminal record and cooperated with authorities after his arrest in 2008, Fitzgerald also asked the judge to take into consideration Gruber’s possession of a notorious video, referred to in the complaint as the “Toy Story” video, which Fitzgerald referred to as “a vicious and dangerous tutorial that encourages additional victimization and molestation.”
Fitzgerald also argued that the judge take into consideration the impact on the victims of child pornography, including two specific victims identified by the government during its investigation. Those two victims are seeking restitution from Gruber, according to Fitzgerald’s filing.
Beyond that, “the remaining videos and images feature exploited children – and their abusers – who are unknown to law enforcement,” the filing stated. “But just because we do not know their names, does not mean that they are not real. Every one of those children has parents or guardians. They have names and siblings. They go to school somewhere. And as they do, without even knowing it, people like [Gruber] are exploiting them.”
Gruber remains free on bond, but under a court-imposed curfew that also restricts his access to children, computers and the Internet. According to the state of Illinois sex offender website, Gruber now lives on the 2700 block of Wesley Avenue in Berwyn.