Rockford Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children.

JAMES UMBAUGH, 57, admitted in a plea agreement that in 2018 he knowingly possessed, on his home computer, images of prepubescent minors, minors under the age of twelve, and toddlers engaged in sex acts.  Umbaugh possessed more than 7,900 images and videos of child pornography, including children engaged in sexually explicit conduct that Umbaugh obtained online.  Umbaugh further admitted that from 2016 to 2018 he acted as a moderator and administrator for chat rooms and websites that promoted the distribution of child abuse and child exploitation materials.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Philip G. Reinhard on Friday ordered Umbaugh to pay $18,000 in restitution to his victims.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S. Maveus.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Love and Attorney James Burke of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section assisted with the investigation and prosecution.