South Carolina Sex Offender Sentenced To Life In Prison Plus 30 Years for Sexual Exploitation Of A Child, Possession Of Child Pornography

Springfield, Ill. – A repeat child sex offender, Jerry Lee Hendricks, 66, of Patrick, S.C., today was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois.  U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough sentenced Hendricks in federal court in Springfield, Ill.

Hendricks was convicted on July 17, 2013, of four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography, following a three-day jury trial in Urbana. During Hendrick’s trial, the government presented evidence that in May 2011, Hendricks coerced and photographed a minor-aged child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The jury also found that Hendricks was a convicted sex offender at the time he committed the offenses in Kankakee County, Ill.

Hendricks was indicted by a grand jury in April 2012, and was arrested in the District of South Carolina on Aug. 1, 2012.  Hendricks has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

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.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson.  The charges were investigated by the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office.