Illinois man charged with child pornography offenses

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging an Illinois man with distributing and possessing child pornography.

This indictment resulted from an investigation conducted by the following agencies:  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Illinois Secretary of States, and the Illinois police departments of Urbana and Rantoul.

The indictment alleges that from January to March 2015, Edward C. Brown, 35, of Rantoul, distributed and possessed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of computers and related materials allegedly used to commit or promote the offenses.

Brown was arrested March 11 and charged in a criminal complaint with distributing child pornography. During a court appearance March 12 in Urbana, U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce ordered Brown to be detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

If convicted, the statutory penalty for each of the two counts of distributing child pornography is a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, and up to a lifetime of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. For the one count of possessing child pornography, the penalty is up to 10 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson, Central District of Illinois, is prosecuting this case.

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 10,000 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.