Robert A. Decker, Child Pornography Distribution And Possession, Illinois 2017

A Rantoul man is facing federal charges for distributing and possessing child pornography, according to a federal indictment.

Robert A. Decker, 56, of the 400 Block of S. Steffler Street, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Urbana on September 8, 2017, for arraignment on two counts of child pornography charges.

According to the indictment, Decker distributed images of child pornography using a facility of interstate or foreign commerce on or about June 6, 2017. The indictment also alleges that on July 17, 2017, Decker possessed computer processing units, hard drives, mobile devices and other digital storage materials, which contain images and videos of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained twelve years of age.

If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty for each count of distribution and possession of prepubescent child pornography is 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Decker was arrested on August 11, 2017, in the Eastern District of Arkansas after being charged in a criminal complaint in the Central District of Illinois. During a court appearance on August 14, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe J. Volpe, in Little Rock, Ark., Decker was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson. The charges are the result of an investigation by the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office; the Urbana Police Department; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.

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