Illinois man sentenced to 25 years in prison for producing child pornography

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — A local man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child pornography.

This sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Moline Police Department, and the Silvis Police Department.

John J. Frazer, 32, of Silvis, Ill., was sentenced June 20 by U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow, Central District of Illinois, to 300 months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Frazer pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 6.

The investigation into Frazer's conduct began Aug. 21, 2012, when the Danish National Police alerted HSI's Cyber Crime Center that an individual associated with Internet Protocol (IP) address from inside the United States had posted photographs of child pornography onto a Russian website. HSI special agents traced the IP address to Frazer's apartment in Silvis. A search warrant executed at Frazer's apartment Aug. 27 resulted in his arrest the same day.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the images of child pornography that had been posted to the Russian website involved photographs that Frazer had taken of a known minor female on or about Aug. 20. These photographs, and additional photographs and videos of child pornography involving unknown other minors, were also found on Frazer's cell phone and laptop computer.

Notably, the investigation further revealed that on Aug. 26, 2012, Frazer indicated his intention to take a video of the known minor female engaging in sexual acts the next day after school. Because foreign, federal and local authorities reacted quickly to the posting of the images onto the Russian website, authorities were able to arrest Frazer before school let out on Aug. 27.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Schuler, Central District of Illinois, prosecuted this case in cooperation with the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office.

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 1-866-347-2423 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 & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

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.