Peoria Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography

Peoria, Ill. – Jacob T. Burmood, 24, of the 6800 block of N. Fawndale Drive, Peoria, Ill., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday, Jan. 25, to a single count of distribution of child pornography.  Burmood, a registered sex offender, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, pursuant to a plea agreement.  The agreement includes a stipulated sentence of 360 months in federal prison, subject to acceptance by the court. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 27, 2016. 

The charges are the result of an investigation by the Peoria Police Department, acting in participation with the Illinois Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) taskforce and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.   

According to court documents, on Oct. 14, 2015, Peoria police officers executed search warrants on Burmood’s person, his residence, and various computers and electronic media. A subsequent forensic analysis of Burmood’s computer showed that he possessed more than 3,000 images and approximately 200 video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct with other minors and adults. The forensic review further revealed that Burmood distributed child pornography to others using an e-mail account. 

Burmood is a registered sex offender as a result of a prior conviction for a sex crime in Illinois in 2011. He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since he was arrested on Oct. 16, 2015.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Hanna is prosecuting 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.