Trial Scheduled for Tolono Man Indicted on Charges of Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Possession of Child Pornography

URBANA, Ill. – Trial has been scheduled in January for a Tolono, Ill., man, Joshua E. Lange, 39, indicted this week on charges of child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography. Lange appeared for arraignment today in Urbana. Trial is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2018.

The indictment alleges that on three occasions, from September 2015 through January 2017, Lange, of the 300 block of Windstone Drive, exploited at least two minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce an image of such conduct and transmit the image in interstate commerce. The indictment also alleges that on Aug, 25, 2017, Lange possessed mobile devices and other digital storage material containing child pornography.

On Nov. 3, Lange was arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint. According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, Lange was under investigation for a criminal sexual abuse allegation in Champaign County Circuit Court when investigators allegedly found sexually explicit images of minors that appear to be taken in the basement of Lange’s Tolono residence.  

If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for each count of child sexual exploitation (three counts) is 30 years in prison; possession of child pornography (one count) carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Both offenses carry potential fines of up to $250,000.

During a court appearance on Nov. 9, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, in Urbana, Lange was ordered to remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Champaign Police Department, and the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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.