URBANA, Ill. – A North Dakota man, Patrick C. Hyde, 40, of Minot, had an initial appearance in federal court today after a grand jury returned an indictment charging him with allegedly distributing child pornography earlier this week.
Hyde was previously arrested and charged by criminal complaint on February 8, 2022, near his home in Minot. Hyde has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.
The indictment charges Hyde with distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on three occasions in January 2022. Hyde appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter in U.S. District Court in North Dakota, Bismarck Division, on February 10, 2022, for a detention hearing and identity hearing. Hyde waived both hearings and was transferred to the Central District of Illinois.
At today’s hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long advised Hyde of the charges alleged in the indictment and set the matter for trial on May 9, 2022, in Peoria, before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm. Hyde waived a detention hearing and Judge Long ordered that he remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.
If convicted, each count of distribution of child pornography carries a statutory penalty of at least five years to 20 years in prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield and Bismarck field offices, conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson is representing the government in the prosecution.
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.