URBANA, Ill. – Robert Shawn Anderson, 52, of the 300 block of Spruce Street in Paxton, Illinois, was sentenced today to 121 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for one count of attempted enticement of a minor.
Anderson was convicted following a jury trial in October 2021. The government presented evidence at trial to establish that Anderson arranged to meet an individual he believed to be a 15-year-old minor for sexual activity on the dating application MeetMe.
The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor are 10 years to life imprisonment.
Anderson was arrested over Valentine’s Day weekend 2020 as part of an FBI operation conducted in Kankakee County, Illinois. The operation was conducted with the assistance of the Bradley Police Department, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon O’Brien and Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson represented the government at trial.
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.
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