Source: United States Department of Justice News
PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria, Illinois man, Kiantre Dykeman, 24, of the 5100 block of N. Karen Court, pleaded guilty on April 4, 2022, to distribution of child pornography. Sentencing for Dykeman has been scheduled for August 4, 2022, at the federal courthouse in Peoria, Illinois.
In court before U.S. District Judge James Shadid, Dykeman admitted to advertising and selling images of child pornography on an internet-based application. During the hearing, the government stated that in November 2020, Dykeman advertised online that he had over 1,000 pictures of child pornography for sale, providing various prices for differing levels of access to the images. The investigation revealed that Dykeman in fact received payment via a mobile application money transfer service and, in turn, provided child pornography to a purchaser by sending images over a text messaging platform. Dykeman admitted to law enforcement that he sold the child pornography because he needed the money, indicating that he profited approximately $60 from the sales.
Dykeman was on bond in the custody of a third-party custodian and was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.
Dykeman faces a statutory penalty of five to 20 years in prison for the offense of distribution of child pornography. The offense also carries up to a $250,000 fine, a $5,000 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) assessment if he is determined not to be indigent, and up to a $35,000 special assessment for child pornography cases under 18 U.S.C. § 2259A. He also faces a minimum of five years and up to a life term of supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service, the Peoria Police Department, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department, and the Bloomington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Hanna is representing the government in the prosecution.
The case against Dykeman 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.