Springfield, Illinois Man Convicted of Two Counts of Receiving and One Count of Possessing Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Donald Dorosheff, 75, of the 400 block of North 4^th Street in Springfield, Illinois, was convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography on March 10, 2022, following a two-day trial in front of U.S. District Judge Sue E. Meyerscough.  Dorosheff’s sentencing has been scheduled for July 15, 2022, at the U.S. Courthouse in Springfield.

Over the two days of testimony, the government presented evidence to establish that from May 2013 to March 3, 2016, Dorosheff repeatedly accessed and downloaded child pornography to his laptop computer from the Internet. On March 3, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Dorosheff’s apartment in the Sangamon Towers in Springfield and seized his computer, an external hard drive, and various flash drives. During a subsequent forensic analysis of the computer evidence, the FBI determined that Dorosheff received and possessed more than 2,000 child pornography images and 28 child pornography videos, most of which involved prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Dorosheff was ordered detained pending sentencing. At sentencing, Dorosheff faces statutory penalties for the receipt offenses of a minimum of five to twenty years of imprisonment, a minimum of five years and up to a life term of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine; and up to 20 years of imprisonment, a minimum of five years and up to a life term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for the possession offense.

The case investigation was conducted by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Bass and Assistant U. S. Attorney Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government at trial.

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.