Quincy Judge Tad Brenner of Adams County Circuit Court sentenced Timothy Mason, 43, on Monday after he entered a guilty plea to two Class X felonies related to the dissemination of child pornography.
In an effort to catch criminals who download and trade child sexual abuse content online, the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office and Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office collaborated with federal law enforcement agencies and local law enforcement officials throughout the state of Illinois.
For the defenseless children and their families who have been harmed by predators who exchange child sexual abuse materials, this sentence is a sign of justice. Raoul expressed his hope that this would aid survivors and their loved ones in their recovery from the trauma. By identifying and prosecuting those who prey on children in Illinois, my office will keep working with law enforcement to protect Illinois children.
In May 2025, Mason’s Quincy home was searched by Raoul’s investigators. Following the discovery of evidence of child sexual abuse, he was placed under arrest. The arrest was made with assistance from the Adams County Sheriff’s office.
Assistant States Attorney Laura Keck stated that the Adams County States Attorney’s office is dedicated to bringing criminal charges against anyone who distribute child pornography. We appreciate being able to collaborate with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to make sure the responsible parties are held to account.
Through a funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Raoul’s office oversees the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which teaches law enforcement agencies and conducts investigations into child exploitation crimes. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provides the task force with CyberTips, which are online reports of child sexual abuse content. Reports of CyberTipline have been rising consistently over the past few years. The ICAC Task Force received 11% more reports in 2024 than in 2023.Comprising a network of over 200 local, county, state, and federal law enforcement organizations, the Illinois ICAC Task Force is one of 61 ICAC task forces around the US. Since 2019, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has been involved in over 1,000 arrests of sexual predators and has received over 60,000 CyberTips. More than 2,400 sexual predators have been arrested by the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force since 2006. The task squad helped save around forty-five children from continued abuse in 2024. Tens of thousands of parents, educators, students, and law enforcement personnel have also received internet safety instruction and training from the task force.You can report child sexual exploitation online at cybertipline.com.and child abuse at dcfs.illinois.gov/onlinereporting.dcfs. Additionally, childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org lists nearby child advocacy centers.
The case was prosecuted for Raoul’s High Tech Crimes Bureau by Assistant Attorney General Courtney Lindbeck.
