EAST ST. LOUIS, ILL. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal - Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section), published as received.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A Centralia man has been sentenced for his possession of child pornography. 
Dakota Olson, 27, was sentenced on Tuesday, December 14, 2021,  to 78 months in federal prison on 
one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to court documents and statements made in federal court, Olson came to the attention of 
law enforcement based on a cyber tip that a Dropbox user had files containing child pornography. 
Law enforcement discovered that between July 19, 2019, and February 13, 2020, Olson possessed over  
1,500  images  and  over  150  videos  of  child  pornography  in  his  Dropbox  account.  Olson  
had received  images  and  videos  containing  child  sexual  abuse  material  on  the  internet  
and  organized them within his Dropbox account. Olson had previously been convicted of Criminal 
Sexual Abuse and was required to register as a sex offender.

As part of his sentence, Olson was ordered to serve a 5-year term of supervised release following 
his incarceration.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 
2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and 
abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation 
and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to 
locate, apprehend,  and  prosecute  individuals  who  sexually  exploit  children,  and  to  
identify  and  rescue victims. For more  information about Project Safe Childhood, please  visit 
www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit 
www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The investigation was conducted by the Jefferson County Police Department and the Department of 
Homeland Security Investigations.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexandria Burns.