Mt. Carmel Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Offense

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Donald R. Campbell, 49, of Mt. Carmel, Illinois, was sentenced in Federal Court in Benton on April 11, 2013, to a term of 30 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release after his incarceration, for enticing a minor to engage in sex acts while Campbell videotaped the events.

“Protecting the innocent from predators such as these will always be one of my highest priorities,” said United States Attorney Wigginton. “Such a sentence should serve to not only prevent Campbell from victimizing any more of our children but to also act as a warning to those who would engage in similar crimes.”

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Southern Illinois Cyber Crimes Task Force and a number of state and local law enforcement agencies.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 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 prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas E. Leggans.