Springfield, Ill. – A federal grand jury today charged Shawn D. Dyda, of Rantoul, Illinois, with violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The indictment alleges that from November 25, 2008 through March 13, 2009, Dyda, 33, failed to register and to update registration as a sex offender after leaving the state of Montana. According to the indictment, Dyda was convicted in October 1993 in North Carolina for taking indecent liberties with a child, a felony offense.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service with assistance from the Illinois State Police and the Montana Child Support Enforcement Bureau. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronda H. Coleman.

Dyda was previously arrested and charged in a criminal complaint filed on March 13, 2009. He was ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service by Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal. If convicted, the offense carries a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the complaint, U.S. Marshals in Montana contacted Marshals in central Illinois to request assistance in apprehending Dyda because they believed he may have traveled to Illinois from Montana without giving notice of change of address. According to the affidavit, Dyda confirmed his address in Helena, Montana on July 30, 2008; however, according to employment and child support enforcement information obtained by law enforcement, Dyda was residing in the 1200 block of Fairlawn Drive in Rantoul, Illinois.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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.