Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Illinois
Friday, July 25, 2014
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A federal grand jury sitting in East St. Louis has indicted Nathan D. Maphis, 36, of New Boston, Ohio, charging him with Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. The offense charged in the indictment alleges that on June 24 and 25, 2014, Maphis travelled from the State of Ohio to Effingham County, Illinois, for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a person under the age of 18 years.
A federal trial date has not yet been set. If convicted of Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct, Maphis faces a term in prison of up to 30 years; a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five (5) years, up to and including, a lifetime of supervision once he is released.
An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant that is comprised of the essential facts constituting the offense charged. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources."
The case was investigated by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force, the Maryville, Illinois, Police Department and the Illinois State Police. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Ali Summers.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
