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

PEORIA, Ill. – On June 21, 2023, Auston McLain, 38, of Davenport, Iowa, was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity.

Over two days of trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah Darrow, the United States presented evidence establishing that from November 10, 2020, through November 14, 2020 McLain communicated with an individual he believed to be a minor about engaging in sexual activity, sent pornographic pictures to the person he believed was a minor, asked for pictures, and then traveled from Iowa to Illinois with the intent to meet with the child and engage in sexual activity. Federal law enforcement agents arrested him when he arrived at the meeting location.

Sentencing for McLain has been scheduled for October 18, 2023, at the U.S. Courthouse in Peoria, Illinois. At sentencing, McLain faces statutory penalties of ten years to life imprisonment, a possible fine of $250,000, and a five year to life term of supervised release for attempted enticement and up to thirty years imprisonment, a possible $250,000 fine, and a five year to life term of supervised release for travelling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. He also must register as a sex offender. McLain has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest.

The prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, with the assistance of the Rock Island Police Department, the Macomb Police Department, the East Moline Police Department, and the Illinois State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tanner Jacobs and Matthew Weir represented the United States at trial.

The case against McLain 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.