Springfield, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on October 19, 2012, Martin L. Evanick, a/k/a “Vlad,” 31, of Collinsville, Illinois, was arraigned on an one-count indictment charging him with production of child pornography. The alleged violations took place on June 8, 2010 and April 20, 2011, in Madison County. After a detention hearing, the court ordered that Evanick be held without bond pending trial.
The offense charged in the indictment alleges that, between April 1, 2012 and April 21, 2012, Evanick took photographs of himself engaged in sexual activity with a minor, as well as close-up photographs of the minor’s genitalia.
A trial date had not been set. If convicted of production of child pornography, Evanick faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years but not more than 30 years of imprisonment, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years to life.
An indictment is merely the method by which federal charges are lodged. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”
The case was investigated by the Collinsville, Illinois Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.
