Springfield, Ill. - A federal grand jury today charged David H. Reiners, 49, of Champaign, Illinois, with violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA.) The indictment alleges that from March through Dec. 6, 2009, Reiners, of the 400 block of Paul Avenue, failed to register and to update registration as a sex offender after leaving the state of Iowa to travel to Illinois. According to the indictment, Reiners has two felony convictions in the State of Illinois: on June 30, 1997, convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and on May 22, 1992, for criminal sexual assault.

The charge is the result of an investigation by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson.

If convicted, the offense carries a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Reiners was arrested on Dec. 16, 2009, and charged in a criminal complaint. He was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

This 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.