A Shelbyville, Illinois man has been sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison for the production, receipt, and possession of child pornography.  30-year-old Brett J. Simpson of Shelbyville, was sentenced on July 10th, 2024 to 210 months in the Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by seven years of supervised release.  He was also ordered to pay $15,500 in restitution to victims and register as a sex offender.  

Simpson had previously pleaded guilty to persuading a minor victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce child pornography, receiving child pornography, and possessing it between December 2021 and May 2022.  

At the sentencing hearing, the government proved that Simpson pretended to be a minor on social media platforms to entice children to produce and send him images and videos. He also persuaded a child with gift cards and also received upon request a video containing images of that child.  Evidence showed that Simpson possessed thousands of other images of child pornography, including 250 images depicting children under 12 years of age. 

Shelbyville Police Chief Chad Brachbill thanked the Springfield Office of the FBI for assisting with the arrest back in May of 2022.  He says he looks forward to partnering with them in the future to continue keeping children safe from criminal activity of any kind, especially internet sex crimes. 

Simpson was arrested in June 2022 and has remained in custody since his arrest.   The statutory penalties for the 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 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.