Two Southern Illinois Residents Charged With Child Pornography Offenses

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that two southern Illinois residents were charged and appeared in Court today on child pornography offenses which are alleged to have occurred in Jackson and Richland Counties. Joseph R. Washburn, 33, of Murphysboro, Illinois, and Thomas C. Fulk, 46, of Olney, Illinois, were charged in separate cases with using a computer to access and download child pornography images from the internet.

If convicted, each person faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervised release.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

The investigation in the Washburn case was conducted by the Secret Service Southern Illinois Cyber Crimes Task Force, The United States Marshals Service, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, the Benton, Illinois, Police Department, and the Murphysboro, Illinois, Police Department.

The investigation in the Fulk case was conducted by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the Richland County State’s Attorney, the Illinois State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas E. Leggans.