Springfield, Ill. – A federal grand jury today charged Edward Bryan Gray, Jr., of Mattoon, Illinois, with violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA.) The indictment alleges that from April 17, 2009 through May 14, 2009, Gray, 29, failed to register and to update registration as a sex offender after leaving the state of Illinois to travel to Iowa. According to the indictment, Gray was convicted in December 2000 in Iowa for indecent contact with a child, an aggravated misdemeanor conviction.

The charge is the result of an investigation by the Mattoon Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson.

If convicted, the offense carries a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Gray is currently in the custody of local law enforcement authorities in Coles County 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.