A St. Charles man has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office and Kane County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday.

Corey J. McDonald, 29, of St. Charles was arrested at his residence on Monday, the news release said, following an investigation by the Kane County Child Exploitation Unit, an initiative the State’s Attorney’s Office and Kane County Sheriff’s Office started in 2022 aiming to keep children in the state safe from sexual exploitation.

This investigation began as a result of a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser is alleging that, in January, McDonald disseminated multiple images containing child sexual abuse material to a chat group on Kik, an instant messaging platform, the release said.

Mosser is also alleging that McDonald violated the Sex Offender Registration Act. According to Kane County court records, McDonald was convicted on child pornography-related charges in 2019. The complaint accuses McDonald of failing to notify the St. Charles Police Department that he was using the instant messaging identity, leading to the charge of violating the Sex Offender Registration Act.

McDonald is being charged with eight counts of possessing child pornography, eight counts of disseminating child pornography and two counts of violating the Sex Offender Registration Act, according to the news release.

He is being detained in the Kane County jail while he awaits his pretrial hearing, the release noted, with his next court appearance set for July 24.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com