ST. ELMO MAN SENTENCED ON CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY OFFENSES

Randy G. Massey, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on January 14, 2008, CHAD AARON HASLETT, age 27, of St. Elmo, Illinois, was sentenced in the United States District Court in Benton, Illinois. HASLETT was sentenced to 151 months imprisonment, was fined $1,000, and was placed on 10 years supervised release.

HASLETT had previously pleaded guilty to a two-count federal indictment, charging him with one count of Distribution of Child Pornography and one count of Possession of Child Pornography.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Southern Illinois Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Crimes Against Children Task Force, and a number of state and local law enforcement agencies. This case was prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which was introduced in February 2006, to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. The goal of Project Safe Childhood is to enhance the national response to the growing threat of computer-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes -- including child pornography and enticement crimes -- which are committed against children. Anyone with information concerning the use of the Internet for any criminal purpose, including the possession, production, or distribution of child pornography, is encouraged to contact the appropriate local police department or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George A. Norwood.