ALTON – An Alton man pleaded guilty to disseminating child pornography and was sentenced to 32 years in prison by a Madison County judge.
Christopher L Page pleaded guilty to four counts of dissemination of child pornography, all Class X felonies. Page will remain in custody pending his transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Page was originally charged with seven counts of dissemination of child pornography. The Attorney General’s Office with the assistance of the Alton Police Department, the Edwardsville Police Department, and the United States Secret Service, searched Page’s residence in the 2700 block of Sanford Avenue in Alton and arrested him after discovering evidence of child pornography. Attorney General Raoul’s office will prosecute the case.
The case is part of Attorney General Raoul’s work to investigate and prosecute child pornographers in Illinois. Raoul’s office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. The task force receives CyberTips, or online reports of child pornography, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Over the last several years, CyberTipline reports have steadily increased. In 2021, reports to the ICAC increased by 42% over 2020.
Illinois’ ICAC Task Force is one of 61 ICAC Task Forces throughout the country and is comprised of a network of more than 285 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Since 2019, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has received more than 24,100 CyberTips and has been involved in more than 408 arrests of sexual predators. Since 2006, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has been involved in more than 1,840 arrests of sexual predators. The task force also has provided internet safety training and education to more than 962,779 parents, teachers and students, in addition to more than 23,250 law enforcement professionals.
