WASHINGTON – A Rochester, Ill., firefighter pleaded guilty
today to one count of production of child pornography, one count of
possession of child pornography and one count of destruction of
evidence, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the
Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois
James A. Lewis.
Justin D. Weaver, 26, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron G. Cudmore in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Ill.
During the plea hearing, Weaver admitted to molesting a
7-year-old minor victim and producing child pornography of the
molestation.
Additionally, Weaver admitted to knowingly possessing images of
child pornography, and destroying evidence of his child pornography
offenses.
Weaver is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6, 2011.
At sentencing, Weaver will face a minimum mandatory sentence of
15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison, a fine
of up to $750,000 and a lifetime term of supervised release.
Weaver will be required to register as a sex offender in accordance with state and federal law.
Weaver was arrested on May 7, 2009, and remains in custody pending sentencing.
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.
Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood
marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend
and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet as well
as to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Elly Peirson of the Central District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Mi
Yung Park of the Criminal Division’s CEOS.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the
Springfield Police Department, the Adams County Sheriff’s Department,
and CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit.
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