Kankakee County Man Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Child Enticement Crimes

URBANA, Ill. – A Kankakee County, Illinois, man, Joshua Koenig, 29, of the 200 block of South Randolph Street in Bradley, Illinois, was sentenced today to 96 months’ imprisonment for one count of attempted enticement of a minor and two counts of attempted receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents, law enforcement identified Koenig when he attempted to meet two separate individuals whom he believed to be minors on a popular dating application. Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm sentenced Koenig to the eight-year term of imprisonment, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Koenig pleaded guilty in November 2021 to the three-count indictment.

In March 2020, a federal grand jury charged Koenig by indictment following his February 2020 arrest pursuant to a criminal complaint. Koenig has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

Koenig was arrested February 14, 2020, as part of an FBI operation conducted in Kankakee County. The operation was conducted with the assistance of the Bradley Police Department, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson represented the government in this prosecution.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.