Federal Grand Jury Indicts Rantoul Man on Child Pornography Charges

URBANA, Ill. – A federal grand jury today returned an indictment that charges Alan L. Dodd, 37, of the 100 Block of Shady Lawn Dr., Rantoul, Ill., with distribution and possession of child pornography.

Dodd was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Feb. 11, 2021. Dodd has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

The indictment charges Dodd with distribution of child pornography on Oct. 25, 2020, and possession of child pornography on Feb. 11, 2021. Dodd is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long for arraignment on March 8, in Urbana.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, in November 2020, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office received a Cybertip referral after four separate social media and instant messaging applications, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and Twitter, self-reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an online social media user possessed and distributed content believed to be of child pornography. The complaint alleges that the internet addresses of the user were related to Dodd, including from his home internet address in Rantoul.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson is representing the government in the prosecution. The NCMEC referral was reported to the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force and referred to the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, and the Urbana Police Department conducted the investigation.

If convicted, the offense of distribution of child pornography (one count) carries a statutory penalty of at least five years to 20 years in prison; for possession of child pornography (one count), the penalty is up to 10 years in prison.

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

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), to marshal federal, state and local resources to 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.