Freeburg Woman Sentenced for Receipt of Child Pornography

A Freeburg woman was sentenced in federal court on June 3, 2011, for receipt of child pornography, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Cheryl Groth, 42, of Freeburg, Illinois, was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment, 12 years’ supervised release, fined $875, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

The investigation began when a FBI undercover investigation revealed that the defendant was sharing child pornography on the Internet. On October 20, 2010, FBI agents went to Groth’s house to speak with her. Groth gave the agents consent to search her computer and admitted to downloading child pornography via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Review of the computer revealed approximately 114 images and seven videos of child pornography. Some of the materials included images depicting bondage and the sexual abuse of toddlers.

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 case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.