Belleville Man Charged With Child Pornography Offenses

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced that Daris A. Quinn, a/k/a “DQ,” 25, Belleville, IL, was arraigned today, June 21, 2013, on a four-count Indictment charging, in Count 1, Distribution of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, in Count 2, Possession of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, in Count 3, Using a Communication Facility to Facilitate a Drug Transaction, and, in Count 4, Making a False Statement to a United States Postal Inspector. Quinn’s trial is scheduled for August 26, 2013, in East St. Louis, Illinois. Quinn was ordered detained, that is, held without bond, pending trial.

If convicted of Distribution of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, Quinn faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 years but not more than 20 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five (5) years to life. If convicted of Possession of Visual Depictions of Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct, Quinn faces a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five (5) years to life. If convicted of Using a Communication Facility to Facilitate a Drug Transaction, Quinn faces a term of imprisonment of not more than 4 years, a fine up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than 3 years. If convicted of Making a False Statement to a United States Postal Inspector, Quinn faces a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years, a fine up to $250,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than 3 years.

An indictment is merely the method by which federal charges are lodged. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was investigated by the Collinsville Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.