A former Illinois state representative who allegedly bragged about sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl has been released from jail on home confinement, two days after he was charged with possessing child pornography.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Keith Farnham to pay a $4,500 bond and remain on house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet, WGN reports.
He has not yet entered a plea, according to to ABC Chicago.
The former Democratic state representative from Elgin, Ill. is also prohibited from using the Internet or having any contact with anyone under the age of 18. The Tribune reports that Farnham's wife, who did not appear in court Wednesday, is responsible for alerting the court if he violates his bond restrictions.
The 66-year-old abruptly resigned his seat on March 19 due to what he claimed were serious health issues; Farnham's attorney told WGN his client needs a lung transplant and is being treated for Hepatitis C.
Farnham's resignation came less than a week after federal agents removed several computers and electronic storage devices from his home and office while acting on a search warrant.
The FBI said the devices were later found to have "hundreds of [pornographic] images" on them, and a federal complaint alleges the former state representative used a phony email account to send and receive videos and images of children as young as six months old being sexually abused.
Federal prosecutors say Farnham was ultimately brought down when he emailed videos of young children being abused to an undercover Homeland Security investigator posing as a pedophile, the Sun-Times reports.
While Farnham has not been charged in relation to the alleged molestation of the 6-year-old girl he reportedly bragged about online, he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of possessing child pornography.
Incidentally, two pieces of legislation Farnham co-sponsored last year were aimed at strengthening penalties for people convicted of possessing child pornography.
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