Baldwin Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses

A Baldwin man pled guilty on November 20, 2013, to a three-count indictment charging him in count one with Receipt of Visual Depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct; in count two, with access with intent to view visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct; and in count three, possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen R. Wigginton announced today.

Michael A. Nieweglowski, Jr., a/k/a “Tony,” 47, of Baldwin, Illinois, is subject to enhanced penalties due to a 2000 conviction for Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault in Randolph County. On count one of the indictment, Nieweglowski faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 but not more than 40 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five years to life. On counts two and three of the indictment, Nieweglowski faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 10 but not more than 20 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five years to life. Nieweglowski will also have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 21, 2014, in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The investigation began on January 14, 2011, when the defendant, who had been on mandatory supervised release for the predatory criminal sexual assault conviction since at least September 10, 2010, was turned over to his parole officer after suspected child pornography was found on a printer in Nieweglowski’s parents’ home on December 30, 2011. On January 15, 2011, a special federal officer with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force seized numerous media devices from Nieweglowski’s camper trailer, which was parked next to his parents’ home, including a laptop computer that Nieweglowski could access in his parents’ home and a PNY thumb drive.

A forensic review of the laptop revealed approximately 79 visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct that had been downloaded via the Internet. The PNY thumb drive was found to contain approximately 80 visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct that had been transferred to the thumb drive from the laptop computer. Several of the visual depictions contained images of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, as well as images of minors that depicted sadistic behavior.

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 Illinois Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force (SCETF). The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.