Rock Island, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm today sentenced Gordon Lee Craig, 29, of the 1100 block of 13th Avenue, Rock Island, Ill., to a term of 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography. Upon release from prison, Craig was ordered to remain on supervised release for life.

On June 24, Craig pled guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child, admitting that he produced images of child pornography on four occasions in 2008 in Rock Island. Craig, also known as “WeeWee,” has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest on March 26, when he was charged in a federal criminal complaint.

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Illinois Attorney General’s Office; the Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office; the Rock Island Police Department; and the Moline Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Cannon prosecuted the case.

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.