Granite City Man Faces Federal Time After Pleading Guilty to Possession and Receipt of Child Pornography

A Granite City man pled guilty in federal district court in East St. Louis on September 23, 2011, to a two-count indictment charging him with possession of child pornography (count one) and receipt of child pornography (count two), the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Michael Wayne Bailey, 35, of Granite City, IL, faces a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years to life for possession of child pornography; and a term of imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 20 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years to life for receipt of child pornography. Sentencing is scheduled for January 20, 2012. Bailey has been held without bond since his arraignment on July 26, 2011.

According to facts revealed at his guilty plea, the violation referenced in count one of the indictment occurred on March 17, 2011, when officers executing a state search warrant seized eight computers and numerous other media devices from the residence which Bailey shared with other individuals. While analyzing the computers, officers located a screen name, funson999, which contained numerous chats discussing the molestation of children and trading images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Officers were able to track the funson999 account to Bailey.

In a voluntary statement, Bailey admitted creating the funson999 account, stating that he would save images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to his hard drive and then delete them (which was consistent with the forensic examinations of the computers). Bailey stated he received approximately 10 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via the Internet. Bailey also admitted that he deleted e-mails and other information associated to the funson999 account after the search warrant was executed.

The violation referenced in count two of the indictment occurred on October 2, 2009, when the Bailey downloaded an image of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This 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 United States 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.

The case was investigated by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.