Tyler Watson, Child Pornography, Illinois 2019

Child pornographer gets 30 years in prison.

TYLER WATSON, a 21-year-old from BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney John C. Milhiser of the Central District of Illinois. U.S. District Court Judge James E. Shadid pronounced the sentence.

A forensic examination of Watson's electronic media revealed that he had communicated with and received sexually explicit images from other minors via the internet.

The investigation was conducted by the BLOOMINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT and NCIS with assistance from the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section's (CEOS) High Tech Investigative Unit and the FBI. This case was prosecuted by CEOS Trial Attorney Nadia Prinz and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Morris and Adam W. Ghrist of the Central District of Illinois.

Watson pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley on Aug. 19, 2019. According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, Watson came to the attention of the BLOOMINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT while home on leave from active duty in the U.S. Navy.

A 6-year-old boy was one of the victims of Watson's crimes, according to the investigation. The information from an acquaintance of Watson's led police officers to discover sexually explicit pictures Watson had taken of the boy on Watson's cellphone, as well as other child pornography images.

This 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdil/pr/illinois-man-sentenced-production-child-pornography