Southwest Illinois pastor sentenced for distribution of child pornography
A 62-year-year-old Lutheran pastor from Godfrey was sentenced Thursday in a U.S. District Court for distributing child pornography in December 2019.
Stephen P. Tibbetts was ordered to serve seven years and three months in a federal prison and pay $10,000 in restitution to victims who were depicted in some of the videos and photographs.
Court documents and evidence obtained by federal agents, and Macoupin County sheriff’s deputies, showed Tibbetts began viewing and distributing child pornography starting in the 1990s and continued until his arrest in June 2020, a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice said.
While Tibbetts was on pre-trial release for the offenses he was charged for, an officer located additional devices in his home, which were found to contain child pornography.
In all, Tibbetts possessed 2,430 images and 408 videos containing child pornography, according to the court.
When the criminal complaint against him was filed, Tibbetts was head pastor at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Godfrey. He has been a pastor since 1992.
In imposing the sentence, the court noted that “the defendant was living two lives of sorts.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and Macoupin County Sheriff’s department with assistance from Peoria Police. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hoell.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 4:26 PM.
