A Westville man has been sentenced to 16 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Circuit Judge Thomas O’Shaughnessy sentenced Joshua Sentelle in connection with a June 2017 incident.
Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy says the 44-year-old Sentelle (shown here) secretively recorded a juvenile undressing, capturing nude images of the juvenile in a home. Lacy says Sentelle admitted to authorities that he hid a camera in the home in order to create a video recording. The video was inadvertently located by a third party who brought the recording to the attention of authorities.
Sentelle had just one prior conviction – for the offense of battery in 1998. He must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life due to his guilty plea on the child pornography charge. He will also be subject to mandatory supervised release of from three years to life once he finishes the 16 year sentence.
The case was investigated by Vermilion County Sheriffs Police and Westville Police. It was prosecuted by First Assistant State’s Attorney Stephanie Weber.