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Press Release

Columbia Man Charged With Child Pornography Offenses

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Illinois

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on February 20, 2015, Dan Stephen Daniels, 49, Columbia, IL, was arraigned on a two-count Indictment charging him, in Count 1, with Receipt of Child Pornography, and, in Count 2, Possession of Prepubescent Child Pornography. Daniels was ordered detained, that is, held without bond, after a detention hearing held immediately after his arraignment.

Count 1 alleges that, on or about October 12, 2014, Daniels knowingly received two (2) images of child pornography, one of a prepubescent male engaged in sexual intercourse with an adult female and the other of a prepubescent female in the lascivious display of her genitals. Count 2 alleges that, on or about October 17, 2014, Daniels knowingly possessed a desktop computer that contained images of child pornography that involved prepubescent minors or minors who had not attained 12 years of age.

Trial is scheduled for April 6, 2015. The penalty for Receipt of Child Pornography is a term of imprisonment of not less than five (5) years but not more than twenty (20) years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five (5) years to life. The penalty for Possession of Prepubescent Child Pornography is a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty (20) years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five (5) years to life.

An indictment is merely the method by which federal charges are lodged. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 Columbia Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.

Updated March 3, 2015