Illinois man sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for child pornography

PEORIA, Ill. — A local man was sentenced Wednesday to more than 15 years in prison for possessing child pornography. This lengthy sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

David A. Fisher, 53, of Pekin, Ill., was sentenced May 16 by U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade to serve 188 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Following completion of his prison term, Judge McDade ordered Fisher to remain under supervised release for ten years.

On Jan. 13, Fisher waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of possessing images of child pornography in August 2010. Fisher had previously been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in November 2011, and was ordered to remain detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk D. Schoenbein, Central District of Illinois, prosecuted the case.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.