With an arsenal of 21 guns and eight boxes of ammunition, a Kenosha man said he could have shot agents sent to investigate the “world” of child pornography he created in his apartment, a criminal complaint alleges.

But, Kevin M. Derks said, he wanted people to know he chose not to shoot anyone.

“This was my own world,” Derks reportedly told investigators. “... I knew what I was doing. I took a gamble. It’s like going to Vegas, except I lost everything. ... Now my ass is gonna fry.”

Derks, 53, was charged Monday with 20 felonies for possession of child pornography. If convicted, he faces up to 500 years in prison.

He was in jail because he had not posted a $50,000 cash bond. His next hearing is set for Dec. 1.

A year of investigation

Derks is accused of collecting child pornography from paid Internet subscription sites, as well as amassing a collection of child erotica that included more than 100 DVDs, which Derks rated with his own star system.

State agents began looking into Derks’ activities in December 2008, prosecutor Rosa Delgado said.

It took nearly a year to collect the background information and subpoenas that led those agents to Derks’ door on Nov. 17.

Derks would not allow investigators into his home in the 4000 block of 39th Avenue, but he agreed to talk to them in his basement.

Fainted during interview

Authorities said Derks fainted twice during that conversation, both times falling to the floor. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries from those falls and appeared in court Monday with bruises under his eyes.

When authorities returned Nov. 18 with a warrant, they stepped inside the world of “true love” Derks said he created to comfort himself as the outside world grew “worse and worse,” the criminal complaint says.

“He described it as a world he wanted to create to escape this world,” Delgado said.

Vast collection

That world had existed for at least 10 years, Derks said, and included poster-sized memorials to at least two dead children, including one murdered by her father. As he spoke of those memorials, Derks “became emotional and asked how someone could hurt children,” the complaint says.

Other posters, printed computer images and framed photos of children in erotic or sexual poses, decorated the walls, cupboards and shelves in Derks’ apartment.

Four mannequins — two adult females, two children — were posed in “tender” positions, the complaint says.

Derks also collected paraphernalia related to celebrity children, including:

— Underwear from the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen clothing line.

— A Hannah Montana lamp, which Derks embellished with a suggestive phrase.

— Photos of actress Dakota Fanning and kidnapping victim Elizabeth Smart, which Derks kept next to his toy-covered bed.

Beach photos

He also had a dry-erase board with the message: “25 weeks to Beach Time,” an apparent reference to the beach photos Derks admitted taking in Kenosha over the last five years.

Derks reportedly used binoculars and a telephoto camera lens to photograph children from 30 to 50 feet away. He considered it “fun” and a “hobby,” although some people questioned him about what he was doing.

The content of those pictures has not been released.

Never touched children

Derks said he never touched children and did not lure them into his apartment. And Delgado said no victims have stepped forward to claim Derks used them to create child pornography.

But, she said, the beach behavior was “very concerning,” and the apparent shrines Derks created in his apartment were unprecedented for investigators.

“It’s just indescrible. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Delgado said.

‘His own little world’

Derks recognized that child pornography can be “destructive,” the criminal complaint says.

He also said he finds much child pornography “repugnant” and despises violent pornography and pedophiles, instead preferring “gentle” and “non-violent” pornography, which he considers a “true expression of love.”

Derks said that “tenderness” is key for him and part of the reason he became interested in child porn; he once saw a daughter kiss a mother on the cheek, which sparked his interest in incest.

Derks understood why some people might consider him a “monster” or “sick,” but does not believe he is either.

Rather, he said, he believes he is a “mentally healthy” man who created “his own little world” as a result of a difficult life, the criminal complaint says.