A district judge sentenced Jeremy Wallace, 39, of Granite City to 175 months in federal prison after he admitted to driving a minor across state lines and committing criminal sexual assault, according to a July 17 announcement. Wallace pleaded guilty in June to one count of Transportation with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.
Court documents show that in April 2022, Wallace drove to Missouri to pick up the minor victim before taking the victim back to his residence in Granite City and sexually assaulting her. At the time of the incident, the victim was 16 years old. After serving his prison sentence, Wallace will be subject to five years of supervised release.
“Thirty-nine-year-old men who sexually assault underage girls should expect to face the full weight of federal law,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.
Wallace currently faces two criminal cases in Madison County, Illinois related to firearms and criminal sexual assault charges. The district court ordered that his federal sentence will run concurrently with any term imposed for his pending criminal sexual assault case, but consecutively with any sentence from his pending firearms case. Indictments are formal charges; under law, defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury.
The Granite City Police Department led the investigation into this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Reppert prosecuted it.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies.