On Tuesday, October 31, a federal jury convicted 45-year-old Brian R. Lewis, a resident of Decatur, Illinois, of child sexual abuse material possession. He is scheduled for sentencing on March 15, 2024 and, if convicted, faces up to ten years of imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000, and possible lifetime of supervised release, as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The trial unfolded over a half-day and produced substantial evidence that included nearly a hundred images of child sexual abuse material found on Lewis's phone to email. The victims depicted in these images were children between four to six years of age, enduring sexually explicit conduct. Lewis's arrest and subsequent conviction resulted from an investigation by the Decatur Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shannon O'Brien Ranck and Sierra Senor-Moore. After the conviction, he was turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service.
This particular case was prosecuted under the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice. This program, developed with mutual cooperation from the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), aims to aggressively target child exploitation via the internet by collaborating with federal, local and state resources. Project Safe Childhood aspires to apprehend and bring to justice those exploiting children online while simultaneously identifying and rescuing the victims.
