Urbana, Ill. – A Mattoon, Ill., man, Jeffrey S. Belles, 30, of the 1500 block of Edgar Avenue, was sentenced today to serve 151 months (12 years, 7 months) for distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey further ordered that Belles remain on supervised release for a period of 20 years following completion of his prison sentence and that Belles maintain registration as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

On Mar. 30, 2011, Belles pled guilty to the offenses. Belles has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in March 2010.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force and members of the working group including the Mattoon Police Department.

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