Belleville Man Sentenced for Enticement of a Minor, Transfer of Obscene Matter to a Minor, and Transportation of Child Pornography

A Belleville man was sentenced on October 29, 2012, following his plea of guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with enticement of a minor (count one), transfer of obscene matter to a minor (count two), and transportation of child pornography (count three), the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Jack C. Baldwin, Jr., 46, of Belleville, Ill., was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment on count one, 10 years’ imprisonment on count two, and 20 years’ imprisonment on count three, all to run concurrently. Baldwin was also sentenced to serve 10 years’ supervised release, must register as a sex offender, and was ordered to pay financial penalties of $1,500. Baldwin pled guilty to the charges on August 21, 2012, and has been held without bond since his arraignment on July 2, 2012.

The investigation revealed that Baldwin, who was 45 years old at the time, sent the victim, who he knew to be 11 years old at the time, two pictures of his nude, erect penis using his cellular phone, with one of the pictures being sent on December 10, 2011. It also revealed that, between December 10 and December 13, 2011, Baldwin persuaded and induced the victim to send Baldwin a picture of the victim’s genitalia. A forensic review of the cellular phone Baldwin used to send and receive the pictures was conducted, and revealed that Baldwin sent the photograph of the victim from his cellular telephone account to his e-mail account on December 13, 2011.

In a videotaped, voluntary statement to law enforcement officers, Baldwin stated that he sent pictures of his nude penis to the victim on two different occasions. He also admitted receiving a close-up photograph of the victim’s nude genitalia, which he asked the victim to send.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was investigated by the Royalton Police Department, the Belleville Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.