Urbana, Ill. - Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced today that a federal grand jury in Peoria has returned an indictment charging Shannon Logan, 35, of the 1400 block of Scovill St., Urbana, Ill., with distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The indictment, returned late yesterday, alleges that from Mar. 5, 2014, to May 30, 2014, Logan traded images, via the internet, of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and retained the images and videos he traded on computer storage devices.
Logan remains in law enforcement custody following his arrest on May 30, 2014, on state charges. In consultation with Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz, the U.S. Attorney’s office has adopted the matter at this time for prosecution of the alleged child pornography charges.
A date will be determined by the U.S. Clerk of the court for Logan to appear for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal in federal court in Urbana.
If convicted of the federal offenses charged, the statutory penalty for each count of distribution and receipt of child pornography is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison to 20 years in prison and a term of supervised release of up to life following any term of imprisonment. If a defendant has a prior child sex abuse or child pornography conviction, the statutory penalty is not less than 15 years and up to 40 years in prison. For possession of child pornography, the penalty is up to 10 years in prison.
The charges are being investigated by the Urbana Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson with the cooperation of Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The 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
