PEORIA, ILL. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Department of Justice), published as received.

PEORIA, Ill. – A Pekin, Illinois, man, Joseph D. Perkins, 32, was sentenced today to 120 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by seven years of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor. He also is required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, the court considered evidence from Perkins’s April 2025 jury trial showing that from January 2023 until March 2024, he engaged in conversation with a person he believed to be a fourteen-year-old female. Throughout the 14-month conversation, Perkins made multiple attempts to obtain nude photos and repeatedly attempted to meet the individual to engage in sexual activities. He arrived at a planned meet-up in late March 2024 and was arrested by federal law enforcement officers.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Perkins in April 2024. The case went to trial in April 2025, and a jury found Perkins guilty. Perkins has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in March 2024 on a federal criminal complaint.

The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor include a mandatory minimum of ten years to life imprisonment, followed by a supervised release term of five years to life.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa P. Ortiz and Douglas F. McMeyer represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Perkins 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