Registered sex offender sentenced to 56 years in Illinois for child sexual assault and child pornography

CHICAGO — An Illinois registered sex offender was sentenced March 23 to 56 years in state prison on multiple counts of child sexual assault and production of child pornography. 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Boone County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office.

Tyler McIntosh, 29, of Belvidere, Illinois, was sentenced in Boone County, Illinois to 56 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, and four counts of child pornography.

In July 2015, investigators from HSI’s Cyber Crime Center (C3) in Fairfax, Virginia, were monitoring a website used to exchange child pornography. This led to the execution of a search warrant at a residence in Belvidere. Evidence found during the search showed that Tyler McIntosh had uploaded numerous photos of children under the age of 13 engaged in sexual acts. Two children who were depicted in the photos were in the house at the time of the search warrant, and it was determined that McIntosh had engaged in sexual acts with those children, as depicted in the photos.

Following his prison sentence, McIntosh will be on parole for at least three years and will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. This case was prosecuted by the Boone County, Illinois State’s Attorney’s Office.

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.

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.