Former Plainfield South Custodian Gets 15 Years in Child Porn Case

A former custodian was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Friday for transporting and possessing child pornography.

Anthony Skoien, 48, formerly of Joliet, pleaded guilty to the charges in February, admitting he used his computer and a file sharing network to move photos and videos from among thousands in his collection, according to a release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago.

Undercover law enforcement officials were able to download materials directly from Skoien's computer network. They obtained at least 111 computer files containing child pornography that depicted children engaged in sexual conduct, including sadistic and masochistic acts, the release said.

Skoien was arrested in August 2010, at which time he was working for .

FBI agents searched Skoien's Joliet home on a warrant and seized a desktop computer, two hard drives, floppy discs, and zip discs with more than 7,500 videos and photos of child pornography. The National Center of Missing & Exploited Children's child victim identification program was able to identify nearly 5,750 children in the images, the release said.

In the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, Skoien was also fined $20,000 and will serve 15 years' supervised release following the completion of his prison term, of which he must serve a minimum of 85 percent.

The prison term breaks down into five-year consecutive terms for each of the three counts to which he pleaded guilty: two counts of transporting child pornography and one of possessing illegal images.