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Date: 08-26-2022

Case Style:

United States of America v. Ryan Dale Gross

Case Number: 1:21-cr-10013

Judge: James E. Shadid

Court: United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Peoria County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office

Defendant's Attorney:



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Description: Peoria, Illinois criminal lawyer represented Defendant charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.

The government presented evidence that in late 2020, a minor child residing in the Central District of Illinois was contacted over Snapchat by a person later identified as Ryan Dale Gross, age 26, from Johnson City, Tennessee, falsely told the minor child he was 16 years old, and the chats progressed into Gross requesting sexually explicit photos of the minor victim despite knowing the victim’s age. At first, the minor refused, but Gross eventually coerced the victim into sending numerous images and videos that were sexually explicit in nature. In the chat conversations recovered by law enforcement, Gross threatened to expose the nude photos if the minor did not continue to send sexually explicit materials to his liking. Agents were able to trace the Snapchat conversations and images back to Gross and his residence in Johnson City, Tennessee. Agents executed a search warrant on Gross’s house in February 2021 and confirmed he was the account holder who had exploited the minor.

At the hearing, U.S. District Court Judge James E. Shadid stated that the minor victim endured a “nightmare” at the hands of Gross’ conduct in the case, describing the threats as cold, mean, and calculated.

Gross was indicted in March 2021 and pleaded guilty in April 2022. A preliminary forfeiture order was issued for Gross’ Apple iPhone used in the commission of the offense.

The statutory penalties for sexual exploitation of a minor are 15 to 30 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to a lifetime of supervised release for each count. Special assessments under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act are also possible.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine G. Legge represented the government in the prosecution.

18:2251.F SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN On or about 11/16/2020, 11/26/2020, 12/1/2020, and 12/3/2020 in the CDIL and elsewhere, the Dft did employ, use, persuade, induce, entice and coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction. In violation of 18 U.S.C. §2251(a) and (e).
(1-4)

Outcome: IT IS ORDERED: Dft is committed to the custody of the BOP for a term of 264 months on each of counts 1 -4, to be served concurrently; 10 years Supervised Release on each of counts 1-4, to be served concurrently; No fine imposed; $400 Special Assessment; Mandatory Drug Testing waived.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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