Springfield, Ill. - A federal grand jury in Springfield returned an indictment on Friday, July 10, that charges Ryan T. Hayman, 39, of the 2400 block of Leeper Drive, Champaign, Ill., with distribution and possession of child pornography, announced Jim Lewis, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois.
The indictment alleges that in March 2015 Hayman distributed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment further alleges that in June 2015 Hayman possessed images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of computers and related materials allegedly used to commit or promote the offenses.
If convicted, the statutory penalty for distribution 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. For possession of child pornography, the penalty is a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Hayman was arrested on June 18, 2015, and charged in a criminal complaint with distribution and possession of child pornography. During a court appearance on June 22, 2015, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, in Urbana, Hayman was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Arraignment for Hayman has been scheduled on July 17 at 10:00 a.m.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Boyle. The charges are the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations; Urbana Police Department, the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the East Central Illinois Cyber Crimes Working Group.
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
