EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A Centralia man has been sentenced for his possession of child pornography.
Dakota Olson, 27, was sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, to 78 months in federal prison on
one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to court documents and statements made in federal court, Olson came to the attention of
law enforcement based on a cyber tip that a Dropbox user had files containing child pornography.
Law enforcement discovered that between July 19, 2019, and Feb. 13, 2020, Olson possessed over
1,500 images and over 150 videos of child pornography in his Dropbox account. Olson
had received images and videos containing child sexual abuse material on the internet
and organized them within his Dropbox account. Olson had previously been convicted of Criminal
Sexual Abuse and was required to register as a sex offender.
As part of his sentence, Olson was ordered to serve a 5-year term of supervised release following
his incarceration.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May
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 investigation was conducted by the Jefferson County Police Department and the Department of
Homeland Security Investigations.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexandria Burns.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
