June 4, 2008
ILLINOIS MAN CHARGED WITH SENDING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY TO VERMONT
United States Attorney Thomas D. Anderson stated that Joel Siegel, 63, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, has been charged by criminal complaint filed in United States District Court with transporting child pornography to an undercover detective with the South Burlington Police Department. Agents with the FBI arrested Siegel at his home in Illinois this morning. At his initial appearance today before a United States Magistrate Judge sitting in Chicago, Siegel was ordered detained pending a further hearing next Tuesday, June 10, 2008.
According to court documents, Siegel went to a Yahoo! Internet chat room, where he met the undercover detective, who was pretending to be a 13-year old girl from South Burlington. Over the course of several conversations, Siegel, using the screen name of mr_smiles_42001, engaged the undercover detective in sexually explicit chat. Siegel also sent numerous images of child pornography to the undercover. According to the criminal complaint, these images included children under 10 years-old being sexually assaulted by adult males.
If convicted, Siegel faces a maximum term of twenty (20) years' imprisonment, a mandatory minimum sentence of five (5) years imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000. The actual sentence in the event of conviction would be determined by the court with reference to the advisory federal sentencing guidelines. United States Attorney Thomas D. Anderson stated that the criminal complaint is an accusation only and that Siegel is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
U.S. Attorney Anderson praised the cooperation between the South Burlington Police Department and the FBI in Burlington and Chicago in locating and apprehending Siegel. "Individual that possess and distribute images of children being raped will be aggressively pursued by law enforcement, arrested and vigorously prosecuted," stated Anderson.
The prosecution of Siegel is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Masterson.
U.S. Attorney Anderson noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
