Saturday, August 08, 2020

Ogle County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

ROCKFORD — A Creston man pleaded guilty Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard to charges of transportation of child pornography via the internet and possession of child pornography. 

ERIC CANCHOLA, 27, admitted in a written plea agreement that on March 21, 2018, he used a computer to send a video file over the internet to a fellow KIK chat application user.  The image depicted a prepubescent female child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Canchola also admitted that on May 8, 2018, he possessed two iPods, a desktop computer, and two portable hard drives that each contained more than 600 images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Love.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 11, 2020, at 9:00 a.m.

Canchola faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for transporting child pornography, and a maximum of 20 years for possession of child pornography.  The actual sentence will be determined by the U.S. District Court, guided by the Sentencing Guidelines.   

No comments: