Carbon Cliff Man Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation Of Minors

Rock Island, Ill. — A Rock Island county man, Daniel William Becker, Jr., 22, of Carbon Cliff, Ill., was sentenced today for sexual exploitation of minors and possession of child pornography, as announced by U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois. U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow ordered Becker to serve 293 months (24 years, 5 months) in federal prison followed by 20 years of supervised release after his release from prison. Judge Darrow also ordered restitution to victims in the case; however, the final amount of restitution will be determined at a hearing scheduled for Sept. 18, 2014.  Judge Darrow also ordered the forfeiture of Becker’s digital devices and his residence in Carbon Cliff.

On Jan. 24, 2014, Becker entered pleas of guilty to sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. According to court documents and evidence presented by the government during court hearings, Becker blackmailed minor females via online social networking websites to send him photographs and videos of the girls engaged in sexually explicit acts. Further, Becker threatened the girls by informing them that he would publicly post compromising photographs of the girls online unless the girls produced and sent additional photographs to him.          

Becker has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in March 2013.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk W. Schuler prosecuted the case. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Secret Service’s Quad Cities Cyber-Crime Unit and the Moline 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.