Granite City Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Offenses

“funson999” to Serve Over Eight Years in Prison

Michael Wayne Bailey, 35, of Granite City, Illinois, was sentenced on March 12, 2012 to a total of 97 months’ imprisonment on a two-count indictment charging him with possession of child pornography (count one) and receipt of child pornography (count two), the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. The sentence consists of 97 months’ imprisonment on counts one and two, to run concurrently. Bailey was also ordered to serve 20 years’ of supervised release on counts one and two, to run concurrently; fined $300 on each count, for a total fine of $600; and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment. Bailey pled guilty to the two-count indictment on September 23, 2011 and has been detained since his arraignment on July 26, 2011.

The violation referenced in count one of the indictment occurred on March 17, 2011, when officers executing a state search warrant seized eight computers and numerous other media devices from the residence which Bailey shared with other individuals. While analyzing the computers, officers located a screen name, “funson999,” which contained numerous chats discussing the molestation of children and trading images of minors. Officers were able to track the funson999 account to Bailey.

Bailey admitted creating the funson999 account, stating that he would save images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to his hard drive and then delete them. Bailey stated he received approximately 10 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct via the Internet. Bailey also admitted engaging in the chats recovered from his computer. Finally, Bailey stated that he deleted e-mails and other information associated to the funson999 account after the initial search warrant was executed.

The violation referenced in count two of the indictment occurred on October 2, 2009, when Bailey downloaded an image of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force, and was brought in cooperation with Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons’ office. The case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.