Peoria, Ill. - A federal grand jury today charged Marcus Devon Peterson, 25, of Macomb, Illinois, with violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA.) The indictment alleges that from December 2010 to May 2, 2011, Peterson, of the 200 block of Wigwam Hollow Circle, failed to register and to update registration as a sex offender in Illinois after leaving the state of Michigan. According to the indictment, Peterson was convicted in 2007 for criminal sexual conduct in Wayne County, Michigan.

The charge is the result of an investigation by the Macomb Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk D. Schoenbein.

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

Peterson was arrested on May 3, 2011, 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.