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December 1, 2017Chicago, IL, United StatesChild Exploitation

Previously convicted Illinois sex offender sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography

CHICAGO — An Illinois man, who had already been serving probation on a previous child pornography conviction, was sentenced Nov. 16 to 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to new child pornography charges.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago agents with assistance from Wheaton (Illinois) Police Department (WPD). This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

HSI Chicago special agents began investigating Robert J. Kasanda, 59, of Darien, Illinois, after receiving a lead from WPD. Kasanda was discovered possessing numerous explicit images of children under the age of 12 being sexually assaulted, and images and videos depicting violence being inflicted upon children. 

“This case stands as a reminder that HSI and its law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue sexual predators seeking to sexually exploit and abuse children,” said James M. Gibbons, special agent in charge of HSI Chicago. 

Kasanda had already been serving a five year federal probation sentence on a previous child pornography conviction when he distributed child pornography materials to a WPD undercover officer’s computer.  In addition to his prison sentence, Kasanda was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution.

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 16,000 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 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 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 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.

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