Three more counts of child pornography have been filed against former state Rep. Keith Farnham, a month after he was initially charged with one count of possession.



A federal indictment handed down Thursday charges the 66-year-old former lawmaker with one count of possessing child pornography involving a minor under age 12, one count of receiving child pornography and two counts of transporting child pornography.



Farnham, who was ordered confined to his home after the initial charges were filed, will be arraigned on the new charges at a later date, according to the U.S. attorney's office.



Farnham is accused of using both personal and state-owned computers to trade hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography and to engage in graphic online chats in which he allegedly bragged about sexually molesting a 6-year-old girl.



A federal criminal complaint alleges that Farnham, a Democrat from Elgin, possessed two videos depicting child pornography on a computer that was seized from his state office in Elgin a week before his abrupt resignation in March. Authorities also linked a Yahoo! email account used by Farnham to an online trading forum in which he chatted with other users about his sexual preferences, according to the charges.



"12 is about as old as i can handle," Farnham allegedly said in one online chat in November, according to the charges. "i love them at 6 7 8"



Farnham twice co-sponsored bills in the House that toughened penalties for child pornography. When he resigned his seat on March 19, Farnham told the Tribune he was stepping down due to serious health concerns. A Navy veteran who ran a painting business in Elgin before running for office in 2009, Farnham said he is receiving treatment for bladder cancer and also struggles with pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that causes lung tissue to scar.



According to the charges, the investigation began when homeland security agents received a tip from its Cyber Crimes Center that email address kimdavid5582@yahoo.com was being used to trade child pornography on the Internet.



A search of Yahoo! logs showed a series of graphic instant messenger conversations between last June and January in which kimdavid5582 allegedly chatted with three other users about sexual preferences and exploits, according to the charges. Authorities later traced the Internet usage to the Comcast account at Farnham's home, according to the charges.



In one online conversation in November with a person identified only as "User A," Farnham allegedly described in detail a sexual encounter with a 6-year-old girl.



In another chat a few weeks later, Farnham allegedly told User A, "i wish i had access to all the vids and pics ever made."



