Clinton, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Clinton, Illinois, man, Arthur Hatfield, 37, of the 500 block of East Washington was sentenced on October 19, 2022, to 41 months’ imprisonment, followed by seven years of supervised release, for possession of child pornography.

At the sentencing hearing, the government presented evidence that between March and October of 2019 Hatfield possessed thousands of images of child pornography on multiple electronic devices and the internet-based application Pinterest. Furthermore, the images included children as young as five years of age engaged in sexual acts.

Also at the hearing, United States District Judge Sue E. Myerscough found that the defendant possessed over 17,000 images and videos of child pornography, that they contained images of prepubescent children engaged in the lascivious display of their genitalia as well as engaged in sexual acts, and that the defendant had used software to attempt to mask his IP address when he engaged in collecting the child pornography.

Hatfield was indicted in August 2020 and plead guilty in September 2021.

The statutory penalties for possession of child pornography are up to 20 years in prison, up to life of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and a $100 mandatory special assessment.

The Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigations Zone 4 investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner K. Jacobs represented the government in the 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.