PEORIA, Ill. – A Pekin, Illinois, man, Nathan Golden, 24, of the 2200 block of Sierra Drive, was sentenced on July 11, 2022, to 97 months in prison for receipt of child pornography, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Golden also is required to pay $54,000 in restitution.
At the sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade, the government presented evidence that Golden used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to download videos and images of child pornography. In May 2021, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Golden’s house. On Golden’s computer and cell phone, they found more than 800 videos and images of child pornography, some of which depicted children as young as one year old.
Golden was indicted in June 2021 and pleaded guilty in December 2021.
The statutory penalties for receipt of child pornography are five to 20 years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine and five years to a life term of supervised release, along with a special assessments, fines and restitution to victims. Golden also must register as a sex offender on the national registry.
The United States Secret Service, Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, and Springfield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Hollingshead-Cook represented the government in the prosecution.
The case against Golden 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.