Cahokia Man Charged in Child Pornography Case

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on February 17, 2010, KEVIN T. DUNIGAN, age 54, of Cahokia, Illinois, was named in a twocount Indictment returned by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in East St. Louis, Illinois, charging him with Receipt of Child Pornography (Count 1) and Possession of Child Pornography (Count 2).

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge and is entitled to a fair trial at which the Government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

If convicted, DUNIGAN faces a penalty of between five and twenty years’ imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, or both, and a supervised release term of at least five years up to life on Count 1. He also faces a penalty of up to ten years’ imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000, or both, and a supervised release term of at least five years up to life on Count 2.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States 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.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cahokia Police Department. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Nicole E. Gorovsky for prosecution.