Judge denies bond for Chicago-area veterinarian accused of distributing child pornography
CHICAGO — A judge has denied bond for a Chicago-area veterinarian accused of distributing child pornography.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, Adam King was escorted by U.S. Marshalls into a courtroom at the Dirksen Federal Building on Tuesday afternoon, facing federal child pornography charges.
The judge decided to hold King in custody saying that he is a threat to the community, especially minors.
On Monday, court documents revealed disturbing details about King, including his alleged plans to sexually assault his unborn child, which he discussed in messages shared online.
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The judge described King’s court appearance as “Not your run-of-the-mill detention hearing,” pointing to the severity of the charges.
King was arrested at his home in Elburn on Friday after a months-long FBI investigation.
According to court documents, undercover FBI agents caught King distributing explicit images and videos to another user in New York through an instant messaging platform called Telegram.
Records revealed that King allegedly claimed to have drugged and abused young children.
The court documents did not provide details on whether the statements regarding previous sexual abuse had been investigated and King is not facing sexual abuse charges.
Court records also stated that during the chats, King, who was expecting a child through surrogacy with his husband on March 29th, allegedly claimed that he had plans to sexually assault his unborn child after it was born, going as far as to share a photo an outfit for the baby and ultrasound images.
It was all addressed in Tuesday’s detention hearing.
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Federal prosecutors said they believe King was living a double life adding that he was “hiding this side from people who love him.”
Family members, including King’s husband, parents and in-laws were all in the courtroom. They all took the witness stand and said that they had no knowledge of King allegedly engaging in child photography, adding that they were shocked to learn of the accusation.
King’s attorney asked the judge to release him on location monitoring saying that he would not have access to the internet or be around minors adding that King’s parents would move into his home and look after him.
But, the judge indicated that King posed a threat to the community and said what she found most concerning were the claims of King’s specific references to abusing his unborn child.
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The judge said keeping King detained was best.
According to court documents, King was listed as a staff ophthalmologist at MedVet Chicago in Avondale, but his staff profile has since been removed from their website.
A spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday night that King was no longer employed with MedVet.
Other information about King that was publicly available detailed that he was scheduled to serve as a judge for the 2024 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Westminster Kennel Club said on Monday that they had removed his judging privileges and his judging appointment at the dog show had also been terminated.
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