Urbana, Ill. – On Friday, June 24, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey sentenced Robert Yecny, 78, of Melanie Lane, Champaign, Ill, to serve 87 months (7 years, 3 months) in federal prison for possessing images of child pornography. Yecny was also ordered to remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life following completion of his prison sentence.

On Apr. 1, 2011, Yecny made his initial court appearance, waived indictment and pled guilty to a one-count information charging him with possession of child pornography. Yecny was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following the hearing.

Yecny pled guilty to possession of an estimated 6,000 images and 19 videos containing child pornography recovered from his computer and related equipment following execution of a search warrant of his home on Apr. 23, 2010. According to court documents, the images recovered include graphic images of young girls between the ages of four and five engaged in illicit sexual conduct with adult males and engaged in bondage. Yecny further admitted that he paid monthly subscription fees to access commercial child pornography websites. Yecny also consented to forfeiture of his computer and related equipment.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigation, with assistance from the Champaign Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office.

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.