URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign County man has been ordered to serve 45 years in federal prison for his sexual exploitation of children. Joshua E. Lange, 40, of Tolono, Ill., was sentenced on April 27, 2018 by Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid.
Lange admitted to using minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, producing videos and photographs in his basement of such conduct, from September 2015 through January 2017. The minors were asleep at the time of the exploitation.
Lange pleaded guilty on April 27, 2018 to the three counts of sexual exploitation of children as charged in the indictment returned by the grand jury in November 2017.
U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser stated, "We will continue to work with our state and federal partners to identify these predators and bring them to justice."
Lange is also scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2018 in Champaign County Circuit Court for aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The investigation discovered that Lange possessed images of sexually explicit conduct depicting at least three additional minors.
Lange has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on November 3, 2017.
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. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson represented the government in the prosecution.
The charges were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Champaign Police Department, and the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, with the cooperation of the Champaign County States Attorney.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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