A Rockford man has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.
U.S. District Court Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed the sentence on Gary Wilson, 53, and ordered that it be followed by a lifetime of court-supervised release.
Wilson admitted in a plea agreement that between 2016 and 2019, he solicited numerous minor boys online through gaming systems such as Xbox and PlayStation, social media applications, and text messages to produce sexually exploitive images and videos for Wilson’s sexual gratification.
Wilson, who had previously been convicted of a sex offence, groomed his victims, gaining their trust through conversations during video games. Eventually, Wilson coerced and enticed the children into sending him sexually exploitative images and videos in exchange for gaming codes and money.
Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Lucas Rothaar, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, announced the sentence. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation.
“Few crimes are as grave as preying upon a vulnerable population and memorializing the sexual abuse of minors,” Deputy Criminal Division Chief Jessica S. Maveus argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Had the defendant not been caught by investigating agents (and a minor’s parent), defendant would have continued in his pursuit to sexually exploit minors for his own sexual gratification.”
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