The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Elijah G. Riley, 27, was sentenced Thursday to 135 months in federal prison for the offense of distribution of child pornography. Riley, of East Prairie, Missouri, appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation began communicating with Riley on a social messaging application in August of 2021. During the course of their communications, Riley sent a video depicting an adult male sexually abusing a young female child. The FBI located Riley days later and placed him under arrest. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Riley admitted that he used the internet to send the child pornography video to the agent. After serving his 135-month sentence, Riley will be placed on supervised release for 20 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.
