Shiloh Man Sentenced To Over 12 Years In Prison For Receipt Of Child Pornography

Sidney Davis, 38, of Shiloh, Illinois, was sentenced today in the United States District Court to 151 months (12 years and 7 months) in prison for Receipt of Child Pornography, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced. Following his prison sentence, Davis will be on federal supervised release for 15 years and will also be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. Davis has been in custody since April 5, 2012.

“Anytime a person who preys on innocent children is made to pay for his crimes, society is made safer and justice is done.” said United States Attorney Wigginton. “Anyone who says these crimes are nothing more than perverts looking at images in their homes has no idea of the misery the child victims of this trade are made to suffer.”

Court documents establish that in January 2012, during an undercover investigation, agents from the Illinois Attorney General High Tech Crimes Bureau were able to download child pornography from Davis’ computer using a peer-to-peer network site. Based on this information, the agents obtained a search warrant from Davis’ apartment. During a forensic examination of Davis’ computers, agents recovered numerous video and image files containing child pornography that Davis had downloaded from the Internet.

This case is 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 investigation was conducted by the Illinois Attorney General High Tech Crimes Bureau. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ali Summers.