DANVILLE —
A one-time youth minister from Rossville is accused of using female Internet personas to illicit pornographic pictures from underage boys.
Andrew Thomas, 46, of Rossville, turned himself into federal authorities Monday afternoon in Urbana. He was arraigned in U.S. District Court on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with five counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Thomas used a scheme in which he identified himself on social Internet networking sites and in text messages or e-mails as a female under the names of Stephanie, Jenn, Jessica or Kayla.
Thomas is accused of using the personas to entice the minor-age boys, sending them pornographic female images and in return soliciting pornographic images of the young boys.
Thomas, the charges indicate, also used the names Stephanie Danielson, Kayla Wilson, Jennifer Martinez, Jessica Gonzalez, Justin Danielson and Justin Williams with the e-mail addresses: justjock89@aim.com, Kaylaw21to@aol.com, Foryouhopeulike@aol.com, Luknfrmystudboy2@aim.com, Stephaniedanielson89@hotmail.com and stephaniedanielson1989@yahoo.com.
The indictment alleges a timeline for each of the counts, starting as early as January 2007 and running through March 2010.
If convicted, each count of sexual exploitation of a child carries a mandatory minimum statutory penalty of 15 years to 30 years in prison. Following imprisonment, the defendant may be ordered to remain on supervised release for up to life.
Thomas was ordered held in federal law enforcement custody as part of Monday’s court proceedings. A preliminary jury trial date is scheduled for November.
The charges are the result of an ongoing investigation by the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department and federal agencies.
The case against Thomas first began in March when he was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault.
In the circuit court case, Thomas is accused of illegal sexual acts with a 16-year-old boy sometime between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28. The charge accuses Thomas of committing the alleged act against the boy while “in a position of trust.”
Vermilion County State’s Attorney Randy Brinegar said the filing of federal charges against Thomas does not automatically derail the felony charges filed locally.
“Oftentimes, we will defer prosecution of the whole case to the U.S. Attorney,” he said. “But sometimes — and possibly in this case — the charges are independent or different enough that we don’t.”
The count is a Class 1 felony with a maximum punishment of 4-15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
At the time of the offense, Thomas was a youth minister for the Rossville First Church of Christ and worked as track coach at Rossville-Alvin Grade School. The school has indicated in early March that Thomas was suspended pending more information in the case.
Thomas initially received support from the church and members of the community declaring his innocence soon after the case was filed in circuit court.
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