Rock Island, IL-(ENEWSPF)- An East Moline, Illinois, man, Douglas Christensen, 56, of the 800 block of 15th Avenue, was sentenced on November 3, 2021, to 10 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor.
According to court documents, in November 2020, Christensen arranged to meet an individual he believed to be a 15-year-old child to engage in oral sex. After traveling to a nearby location to meet with the intended victim, Christensen was arrested by federal agents and local law enforcement officers.
Christensen was subsequently charged in an indictment with one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of soliciting an obscene visual depiction of a minor. In July 2021, Christensen pleaded guilty to the attempted enticement of a minor count.
At Christensen’s sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow noted that the applicable penalties, including the statutory minimum of 10 years in prison, reflected the seriousness of the offense conduct. The judge further commented that she hoped Christensen’s sentence would have a deterrent effect on others and potentially save children from harm.
The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor are at least 10 years to life imprisonment, to be followed by at a term of supervised release of at least five years and up to life, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
This case was investigated as part of an operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Office, with the assistance of the Rock Island Police Department, the Macomb Police Department, the Illinois State Police, the East Moline Police Department, the Galesburg Police Department, the Davenport Police Department, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Mathew and Grant Thomas Hodges represented the government in the prosecution.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. 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.
