Grand jury indicts Illinois man on child pornography charges

PEORIA, Illinois — An Illinois man was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois.

This indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Urbana Police Department, and the Illinois Secretary of State. 

The indictment alleges that from April to August, Terrence J. O’Connor, 52, of Urbana, Illinois, received and possessed images and videos of minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of computers and related materials allegedly used to commit or promote the offenses.

O’Connor was arrested Aug. 31 and charged in a criminal complaint with distributing child pornography. During a Sept. 1 court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, O’Connor was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Arraignment has been scheduled for Sept. 28.  

If convicted, the statutory penalty for each of the two counts of receiving child pornography is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and up to 20 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. If a defendant has a prior child sex abuse or child pornography conviction, the statutory penalty is not less than 15 years and up to 40 years in prison. For possessing child pornography, the penalty is up to 20 years in prison.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; each defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.