U.S. DISTRICT COURT - William L. Isaac, 54, of O’Fallon, Illinois, has been sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for knowingly distributing and receiving child pornography over the internet, U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft announced Friday, March 22.
Chief United States District Judge Michael J. Reagan handed down the 15-year sentence, which is to be followed by five years of supervised release. Isaac also agreed to pay $3,000 in restitution to an identified victim whose image was found in the collection of child pornography he possessed.
In 2014, on two separate occasions, Isaac uploaded child pornography to a website chat room. Unbeknownst to Isaac, his activities were captured by the FBI, which was conducting a nationwide investigation of the website at the time.
In September 2017, during a voluntary interview with local FBI agents, Isaac confessed that he had uploaded images and videos of child pornography to chat rooms in the past. He also admitted that he regularly browsed child pornography images on the dark web, most recently that very same morning. A consensual search of his computer revealed the presence of 67 child pornography videos, including videos depicting children in bondage, child torture, and the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers. The videos had been downloaded between July and September 2017.
Earlier this year, Isaac pleaded guilty to a three-count indictment, charging two counts of child pornography distribution and one count of knowingly receiving child pornography over the internet.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Scott.