Urbana, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Two Kankakee, Illinois, men were sentenced on December 13, 2021, in separate child enticement cases. They were Kyren Williams, 31, of the 1000 block of S. Osborn Ave., and Jazzie Simmons, 30, of the 200 block of Greenwood Ave.
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm sentenced Simmons to 87 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release. Simmons pleaded guilty in August 2021 to one count of attempted enticement of a minor.
Judge Mihm sentenced Williams to 120 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by eight years of supervised release. Williams pleaded guilty in July 2021 to one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child.
Previously, in March 2020, a federal grand jury had charged each of the men by indictment following their February 2020 arrests pursuant to criminal complaints. Also in February, U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long ordered that the men be detained pending trial. They have remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since their arrests.
“This operation and other similar ones show our continued commitment, along with the FBI and our other law enforcement partners, to uncover and prosecute sexual predators,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris. “Parents and other caregivers need to continually monitor their children’s electronic communications to protect them from such offenders.”
“The online environment can be a dangerous place,” said David Nanz, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Office. “That’s why the FBI will never give up the exhaustive work of rooting out those who prey on innocent children. These sentences demonstrate the importance of the collaborative work among our law enforcement partners to hold sexual predators accountable.”
Simmons, and Williams were arrested over Valentine’s Day weekend 2020 as part of a related FBI Springfield Division Operation conducted in Kankakee County, sentenced less than two years later. The operation was conducted with the coordination and assistance of the Bradley Police Department, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly Peirson represented the government in the prosecution.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
This is a release from the United States Department of Justice.