Former New Lenox EMA Guy Facing Child Porn Charges Now Free on $150K Bond

A former New Lenox Emergency Management Agency officer charged with possessing child pornography is free on $150,000 bond.

Nicholas Byerley, 23, posted $15,000 cash bail to avoid a trip to the Will County jail.

Byerley possessed three digital videos of child pornography entitled, “7yo boy and 30yo man.mpg,” “[mb]8yo-giantspider.mpg,” and “gay child porn,” according to a criminal complaint on file in Will County court.

The first two videos allegedly depict an adult man and a child engaged in oral sex. The third video shows two children engaged in oral sex, the complaint said.

The complaint says Byerley possessed the videos on June 30. New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said Byerley left the emergency management agency in June. If he had not tendered his resignation, Baldermann said, Byerley would have been fired.

Byerley’s brother, Bill Byerley, who said he is the captain of the emergency management agency, feared publicity from the child pornography case puts him in “jeopardy.” Bill Byerley explained that he works with children and schools, and news about his brother’s criminal case might adversely affect him.

Nicholas Byerley, a self-described “computer expert,” identified himself as the “owner” of the company PageDesk Computer Repairs & IT Services. He still works there, according to the warrant for his arrest.

Bill Byerley said his brother does not own the company. Bill Byerley said he actually owns the company with his parents and that his brother does not have a stake in it.

Nicholas Byerley inadvertently found himself in possession of the child pornography through his work with computers, according to a woman named Darah Petersen.

“Here is the message Nick sent me, which I share with his permission,” Peterson said in an email.

“So, I transfered data from a customers computer to my computer that had inappropriate material on the computer,” the message said. “I didnt realize that it had inappropriate material until our service technician took the authority to contact the authorities. Which, I do not support child pornography in any regard. So, I wish I could have gotten this resolved outside of the courtroom, however the truth will come out. A search warrant is generated on the entire premises and of course located on my hard drive because of the data transfer process.”

While the message claims the child pornography was inadvertently transferred to Nicholas Byerley’s computer, the criminal complaint alleges that two of the videos were found on an external thumb drive and one was on a DVD.