Feds say metro-east man had hundreds of images of child porn.  Now he’s going to prison

A Fairview Heights man was sentenced to six years in a federal prison for amassing a stash with hundreds of images and videos of children being raped.

Michael M. Rapa, 68, pleaded guilty in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois in February to two counts of possession of prepubescent child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced Thursday.

After completing his prison term, Rapa will serve five years of supervised release and have to register as a sexual offender for the remainder of his life, according to a release.

“There is something profoundly wrong with an individual who derives sexual gratification from seeing children being raped,” said U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft. “Law enforcement must confront this evil because, to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, a true measure of society can be found in how it protects its most vulnerable members.”

According to court documents, Rapa first captured the notice of law enforcement in Vancouver, Canada in 2015, which launched an investigation by the U.S. Department for Homeland Security and the Fairview Heights Police Department.

It was discovered the Rapa had “hundreds of image and video files containing prepubescent child pornography on various items of electronic media.”

“The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

“One of the most horrific things an individual can do is seek to harm a child,” said acting Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City area of operations R. Sean Fitzgerald.

This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 5:34 PM.