ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Moline, Illinois, man, Brian P. Kelly, 43, of the 500 block of 53rd Street Drive, was sentenced on August 16, 2022, to 240 months of imprisonment for sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child [censored]ography, along with a lifetime term of supervised release. Kelly was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,000.
At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow commented on the lifelong devastation that the distribution of child [censored]ography can have in the lives of child victims.
Kelly pleaded guilty to the charges in April 2021. The statutory penalties for the offenses are at least 15 years to a maximum of 30 years of imprisonment on the exploitation count and up to 20 years of imprisonment on the possession count. The penalties for each conviction also provided for terms of supervised release ranging from five years to life.
The investigation was conducted by the Moline Police Department and the United States Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Mathew represented the federal government in the prosecution.
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.