Shelbyville, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 210 Months in Federal Prison for Production, Receipt, and Possession of Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A Shelbyville, Illinois, man, Brett J. Simpson, 30, was sentenced on July 10, 2024, to 210 months in the Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by seven years of supervised release. Simpson was also ordered to pay $15,500 in restitution to victims. He is now required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Simpson previously pleaded guilty to persuading a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography, receiving child pornography, and possessing child pornography between December 2021 and May 2022.

At the sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Collen R. Lawless, the government established that Simpson portrayed himself as a minor on social media platforms to entice children to produce and send him elicit images and videos. Simpson persuaded one child to produce sexual images in exchange for a gift card and another child sent Simpson, at his request, a video containing nude images of that child. The evidence also showed that Simpson possessed thousands of other images of child pornography, including 250 images depicting children under 12 years of age.

"This sentence once again affirms the commitment of the U. S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of Illinois to the protection of children and the vigorous prosecution of those who prey upon children," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sierra Senor-Moore.

"This substantial sentence effectively ends Simpson's ability to sexually exploit children and underscores the FBI's commitment to keep our children safe by going after those who seek to take advantage of a child's innocence," said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Jermaine Deans.

"The Shelbyville Police Department would like to thank the Springfield Office of the FBI for assisting our department with the arrest of Brett Simpson back in May of 2022," said Shelbyville Police Chief Chad Brachbill. "In an effort to keep our community safe from predators, the FBI has been paramount in assisting us from keeping dangerous people from exploiting children in our community over the internet. We look forward to partnering with them in the future to continue keeping our youth safe from criminal activity of any kind, especially internet sex crimes​."

Simpson was indicted in June 2022 and has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest in May 2022. The statutory penalties for production of child pornography are no less than 15 years and up to a maximum of 30 years' imprisonment; for receipt of child pornography no less than five years and up to 20 years' imprisonment; and for possession of child pornography a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment. The maximum possible fine was $250,000 per count.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, with assistance from the Shelbyville Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff's Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Senor-Moore represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Simpson 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.

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