Illinois man sentenced to 18 years in prison for child pornography violations

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A local man was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis for the Central District of Illinois.

This lengthy sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Springfield Police Department, with assistance from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center.

Jeffrey Price, 47, of Riverton, Ill., was sentenced March 12 to 216 months in prison and lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough, Central District of Illinois. Price was convicted Nov. 4 of one count of production and one count of possession of child pornography, following a four-day jury trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, on several occasions between October 2002 and October 2004, Price produced sexually explicit photographs of an eleven-year-old girl. Trial evidence also showed that Price possessed more than 900 images and 20 movies that depict children engaged in sexually explicit activity.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Greggory R. Walters and Elly Peirson, Central District of Illinois, and Assistant Deputy Chief Alexandra Gelber with DOJ's Criminal Division.

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-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.