East Carondelet Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography and Possession of Prepubescent Child Pornography

Donald S. Boyce, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on September 20, 2016, Richard Lee Doerr, III, 29, formerly of East Carondelet, IL, pled guilty to a five-count Superseding Indictment charging him with Distribution of Child Pornography (Count 1), three counts of Receipt of Child Pornography (Counts 2-4), and Possession of Prepubescent Child Pornography (Count 5). On Counts 1-4, Doerr faces a term of imprisonment of not less than five but not more than twenty years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five years to life. On Count 5, Doerr faces a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of five (5) years to life. Doerr has been detained since his arraignment on February 12, 2016. His sentencing date is January 13, 2017, in East St. Louis, Illinois.

The investigation of Doerr began in December 2013 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a report from Tumbler regarding an individual who had uploaded images that appeared to be child pornography. Law enforcement eventually tracked the e-mail address associated with the Tumbler account to Doerr. In voluntary statements to investigating law enforcement agents, Doerr admitted to downloading, possessing, and sharing child pornography over the internet. A forensic review of Doerr’s cellular telephone and tablet computer revealed numerous images and video files of child pornography.

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 FBI’s Springfield Child Exploitation Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.