Jacksonville Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Distribution, Receipt, and Possession of Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A Jacksonville, Illinois, man, Daniel Brannan, 48, was sentenced last week to 12 years in prison, to be followed by a 10-year term of supervised release, for distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography.

At the sentencing hearing on September 29, 2026, the government established that Brannan had engaged in the distribution and trading of multiple videos of child pornography between April and May 2025 on an online chatting application. These videos included prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts with adults.

Also at the hearing, U.S. District Judge Colleen R. Lawless described the number of files possessed, over five thousand images and thirty-four videos; found that Brannan had engaged in trading in child pornography; and stated that images that he possessed included toddlers and infants, as well as bondage and humiliation.

In June 2026, Brannan pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. Brannan remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service where he has been since his arrest in December 2025.

The statutory penalties for distribution and receipt of child pornography are not less than five years and up to 20 years' imprisonment, up to a life term of supervised release, up to a $250,000 fine, and restitution. The statutory penalties for possession of child pornography are not more than 10 years' imprisonment, five years to a life term of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Field Office, and the Illinois Attorney General's Office investigated the case with assistance from the Jacksonville, Illinois, Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner K. Jacobs represented the government in the prosecution.

The case against Brannan 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.