Rantoul Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign County man, Alan L. Dodd, 38, of the 100 block of Shady Lawn Drive in Rantoul, Illinois, was sentenced on December 13, 2021, to 10 years’ imprisonment for distribution and possession of child pornography.

At Dodd’s sentencing hearing, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Michael M. Mihm found that Dodd traded child pornography images depicting prepubescent children on multiple social media applications, including Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Discord.

On August 12, 2021, Dodd entered a plea of guilty to the indictment, which charged him with one count of distribution of child pornography on October 25, 2020, and one count of possession of child pornography, on February 11, 2021. Dodd has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest on February 12, 2021.

Following Dodd’s release from prison, he will be on federal supervised release for 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.

“This office will continue to vigorously protect the safety of children from those who would seek to exploit them,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris.

The charges were investigated by Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office; and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force led by the Illinois Attorney General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson represented the government in the prosecution.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.