Rock Island, Ill. - A Moline, Ill., man, Daniel C. McLeod, 26, was sentenced yesterday for the unlawful transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, as announced by Central District of Illinois U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis. U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow ordered McLeod to serve 200 months (16 years, 8 months) in federal prison followed by 10 years of supervised release following his release from prison.
On Jan. 24, 2014, McLeod pled guilty to the offense. According to court documents and evidence presented by the government during court hearings, McLeod traveled to Iowa in December 2012 and picked up a 13-year-old female and brought her to Moline to have sex with her. The female stayed with McLeod for approximately two weeks until the victim notified family members who notified local authorities. During the two week period, McLeod admitted he had sex with the minor multiple times, and occasionally filmed the activity using his cell phone.
McLeod has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in January 2013.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Schuler prosecuted the case. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Secret Service’s Quad Cities Cyber-Crime Unit and the Moline Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
