PEORIA, Ill. – A federal court jury in Peoria has found a Pekin man guilty of attempting to entice a minor.
Sentencing for Joseph Perkins, 32, is scheduled for August 13.
Government prosecutors testified Perkins used a social media platform between January 2023 to March 2024 to communicate with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. They also testified several times Perkins said he wanted to engage in sex with her.
Perkins drove to a location in Peoria in March 2024 to meet with the girl. Instead he was met by federal law enforcement agents who arrested him.
The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor are a minimum of ten years to life in prison, followed by a minimum five-year to life term of supervised release.
Perkins remains in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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.s Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.
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