GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A convicted child molester who found himself at the center of a computer hacking investigation is now facing new child porn charges.
Ed Kramer, one of the co-founders of the massive fantasy convention Dragon Con, was helping private investigators TJ Ward and Frank Karic look into accusations that someone hacked Gwinnett County Judge Kathryn Schrader's computer.
[READ: DA: Dragon Con founder faking ailments to avoid trial]
Now, they're all charged in the case.
Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas was in court Monday when a judge denied bond for Kramer.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Good Samaritan dies days after trying to stop car break-ins at Lowe's
- Argument outside arcade at metro Atlanta mall ends with 1 dead
- Father accused of leaving son in car at gas station charged with child cruelty
Thomas learned the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a warrant against Kramer on the new charges shortly after 4 p.m. Monday on one felony count of child pornography.
Two hours before, Thomas sat in court as Kramer tried to get bond on one of his other cases, insisting he had just been sitting at home, obeying the law.
[READ: GBI investigating allegations that someone hacked judge's computer]
With an oxygen tank attached to his wheelchair, Kramer described to a judge his urgent need for getting out of jail for an upcoming spine surgery.
“We will be here, we will be at every court appearance. He is not going to reoffend,” defense attorney Stephen Reba said.
But just after Kramer’s lawyer offered that promise, prosecutors dropped a new charge -- more child pornography.
[READ: DA: DragonCon founder used single mothers to meet victims]
Authorities said they found five more images on the computers they say they seized as they investigated Kramer’s role in the hacking of the Gwinnett County courthouse computer system.
“I was not surprised when I was notified that there was child pornography on his computer," Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told Thomas.
Kramer's run-ins with Gwinnett County law enforcement go back years.
[READ: Dragon Con co-founder's legal saga marked by strange twists]
In 2013, he entered a plea to child molestation and was given five years of house arrest.
Just after clearing that, he was charged with illegally taking a picture of a boy in a Lawrenceville doctor's office.
As police searched his computers after that arrest, they say they found evidence Kramer, Schrader and Ward hacked into the county's computer system. All three, plus a fourth man, now face criminal charges.
“One wouldn't have happened without each other, but they are essentially unrelated,” Porter said.
The judge delayed any decision on Kramer’s bond Monday. He'll now have even more to consider.
“It's certainly not the end of the investigation,” Porter said.
Kramer is due in court Thursday, when the judge will take another look at the bond issue.