A 56-year-old Rantoul man has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years in federal prison for distribution and possession of child pornography. And also in Urbana’s Federal Court, a 32-year-old Decatur man has been sentenced to 27 year in prison for child exploitation offenses.
Dwayne White, 56, of Rantoul, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography between April 2, 2020 and June 18, 2020. The 12 and a half year sentence White received is in addition to being on federal supervised release for 10 years once he is released from prison. And he will also be required to register as a sex offender.
White’s case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force led by the Illinois Attorney General.
Courtney Williams, 32, of Decatur was sentenced to 27 years in prison after he entered a guilty plea to an indictment. It charged that in January of last year, Williams used the internet and a cell phone to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity that qualified as aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Court documents say Williams portrayed himself as a 17-year-old male while communicating online with a minor girl via Snapchat and text. As part of the communications Williams solicited the girl to send him sexually explicit photos and to meet him to engage in sexual activity. Further, the documents say Williams lured the minor girl to his vehicle and took her to his residence where he gave her drugs – causing the girl to lose consciousness. And while she was unconscious, Williams sexually assaulted her according to the court records.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Decatur Police Department. Both cases above were 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.
