Champaign Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Distribution, Possession of Child Pornography

URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Ill., man, Jaime Breckenridge, 34, of the 2200 Block of S. First Street, was sentenced today on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography, as announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser, Central District of Illinois. U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Shadid ordered Breckenridge to serve 96 months (8 years) in federal prison.  In addition, Breckenridge was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000 to a victim of the offense.

On March 28, 2018, Breckenridge entered a plea of guilty to both offenses as charged in the indictment which was returned by the grand jury in September 2017.

Breckenridge was arrested on Aug. 5, 2017, in Marion, Ill., after being charged in a federal criminal complaint with the same offenses. During a court appearance on Aug. 7, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Reona J. Daly, in Benton, Ill., Breckenridge was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.