Clinton Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography in AG's Crusade Against Predators

Crackdown on child exploitation continues as Attorney General Kwame Raoul slaps a DeWitt County man with a serious wake-up call, charging him with possession of child pornography. Cord Buchanan, a 31-year-old from Clinton, Illinois, faces seven counts of the Class 2 felony, each carrying the weight of up to seven long years behind bars, a statement from the Illinois Attorney General's Office revealed.

In a calculated move, Raoul's investigators and the Clinton Police Department descended on Buchanan's residence on December 21, uncovering what they claim to be evidence enough to haul him away, according to the press release. "The Clinton Police Department appreciates the investigative efforts and cooperation of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in keeping our children safe and bringing a child predator to justice," said Clinton Police Chief Ben Lowers in the same release.

Raoul's office, powered by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, fires on all cylinders with the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. They're digging into child exploitation crimes, educating law enforcement, and responding to a surge of CyberTips by 26% over the previous year. The task force thus far has received more than 38,500 CyberTips, rounding up over 620 suspected predators since 2019, and since 2006, it has been involved in more than 2,010 arrests of sexual predators.

Reminding the public of the power of vigilance, Raoul urges anyone with knowledge of child sexual exploitation to sound the alarm online at www.cybertipline.com, or to report child abuse via dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov and notes local child advocacy centers at www.childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org. In the legal trenches, the charge against Buchanan is led by Senior Assistant Attorney General Shantikumar Kulkarni of Raoul’s High Tech Crimes Bureau.