Collinsville Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 27, 2012 |
A Collinsville man pled guilty in federal district court on March 27, 2012 to an indictment charging him with possession of child pornography, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. William A. Martin, 29, of Collinsville, Illinois, faces a term in prison of not more than 10 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years. Sentencing is scheduled for July 16, 2012, in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Evidence revealed at the hearing shows that on August 17, 2010, agents executed a search warrant at Martin’s home after learning that an officer participating in an Internet undercover operation was able to download videos and images of child pornography from a computer located there. Agents seized two computers from Martin’s bedroom. During a forensic review of the computers, both were found to contain images and/or videos of child pornography.
In a voluntary statement, Martin admitted receiving child pornography through a file sharing program and admitted possessing both computers, knowing that each one contained child pornography.
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 Champaign, Illinois Police 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.