Pekin Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Attempted Enticement of a Minor

PEORIA, Ill. - A Pekin, Illinois, man, Mark Steven Peterson, 42, was sentenced on June 18, 2026, to 120 months in federal prison, to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, for attempted enticement of a minor. Peterson is also 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 Jonathan E. Hawley, the evidence showed that in April 2025, Peterson engaged in multiple online conversations with a person he believed to be a stepfather of a 10-year-old female, discussing specific sexual acts he would like to perform, he then scheduled a meeting to engage in those acts. Peterson traveled from Pekin to Peoria for the purpose of having a sexual encounter with the minor stepdaughter and was subsequently arrested by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Peterson in May 2025, and he was released on bond with conditions in July 2025. In August 2025, Peterson was arrested for a violation of his pre-trial release and pleaded guilty to attempted enticement of a minor in December 2025. Peterson has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in August 2025.

The statutory penalties for attempted enticement of a minor include a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life imprisonment, five years to life term of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa P. Ortiz represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Peterson 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 https://www.projectsafechildhood.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link.