Swansea Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography and East Alton Man Pleads Guilty to Online Enticement

Cory Reibel, 23, of Swansea, Ill., pled guilty on May 13, 2011, to an indictment charging him with two counts of production of child pornography, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. Reibel faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years but not more than 30 years and a term of supervised release to follow imprisonment ranging from five years to life. Sentencing is scheduled for August 22, 2011, in East St. Louis, Illinois. Reibel has been in custody since his arraignment on April 12, 2011.

The violations occurred on February 6 and February 19, 2011. At the time, Reibel was living with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s minor three-year-old child in Swansea. On March 5, the victim’s mother was going through the e-mails and photographs on the Reibel’s cellular phone, when she saw a picture of her minor child’s nude genital area. The victim’s mother subsequently reported the crime to the Swansea Police Department.

Following an unrelated investigation, on May 13, 2011, Hal Dean McBride, 43, of East Alton, pled guilty to a six-count superseding indictment charging enticement of a minor; receipt of child pornography; accessing child pornography with intent to view (“web surfing”); and two counts of transfer of obscene matter to a minor. Enticement of a minor is punishable by a 10-year to life term of imprisonment; receipt of child pornography is punishable by a five- to 20-year term of imprisonment; and the offenses of accessing child pornography with intent to view and transferring obscene matter to a minor each carry a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for September 7, 2011, in East St. Louis, Illinois. McBride has been in federal custody since February 24, 2011.

A factual stipulation filed at the time of the plea reveals that on July 29, 2010, McBride asked an individual who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, but who was actually an undercover officer, to show and/or send him nude photographs of her genitals. McBride also had online chats of a sexual nature with an undercover officer in Nixa, Missouri, who used the persona of a 13-year-old girl. McBride also asked the individual who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to show and/or send him nude pictures of her genitals. On August 19, 2010, McBride downloaded a child pornography video entitled “Tara Gets Molested By A Clown.” From approximately November 23, 2009, to August 30, 2010, McBride used his computer to surf for child pornography. On August 11, 2010, he used a web cam to transmit an image of himself masturbating with a sex toy to undercover officers, one posing as a 14-year-old girl in St. Louis County, and another posing as a 13-year-old girl in Nixa, Missouri.

The Reibel case was investigated by the Swansea Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The McBride case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department, the Nixa, Missouri, Police Department, the Alton and East Alton Police Departments, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott pursuant to the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative.

“I commend the professionalism and dedication of all of the officers who investigated these deeply disturbing offenses,” said United States Attorney Wigginton, who noted that he would have much more to say in court and following the sentencing of these individuals.

PSC is a nationwide effort to address the online sexual exploitation of children, and it includes prosecuting offenders who produce, distribute, and possess child pornography; offenders who use the Internet for the purpose of enticing minors to engage in illegal sexual acts; and offenders who cross state lines in violation of sex offender registration requirements.

The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction provides insight into the nature of these offenses:

• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) data indicates that the vast majority of identified child pornography victims (69 percent of their data set) were abused/exploited by people familiar to the children. In the NCMEC data set these people included parents, other relatives, neighbors, family, friends, babysitters, coaches, and guardians’ partners; only a small fraction of victims (4 percent of the NCMEC data set) were victimized by individuals with whom the child had no relationship. (p. 21).
• Online predators gradually manipulate or “groom” children until they voluntarily provide sexual images online or agree to meet predators for sex. Grooming typically begins with the selection of a child who exhibits desired behaviors or psychological characteristics such as low self-esteem or family problems. (p. 30).

The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction is available at this link: http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov/docs/natstrategyreport.pdf.