Belleville man charged in nationwide sweep of alleged child sex abuse offenders
A Belleville man was arraigned in federal court Wednesday in East St. Louis as part of a nationwide sweep of 205 persons charged in connection with child sex abuse cases.
Jared K. Galbraith, 38, was indicted on April 22 on one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity in October by transporting a minor from Alabama to St. Clair County, according to federal court records.
Galbraith waived his right to a detention hearing and U.S. Magistrate Gilbert Sison ordered that Galbraith should be detained.
Attorney Jessica J. Koester of Edwardsville represented Galbraith Wednesday. She could not be reached for comment.
Galbraith’s arrest was part of Operation Restore Justice, according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department.
“The operation resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sexual abuse offenders in the nationwide crackdown,” the news release states. “The coordinated effort was executed over the course of five days by all 55 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices around the country.”
The indictment against Galbraith alleges that, on Oct. 17, Galbraith, induced a minor female “to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, and attempted to do so, that being a digital video depicting masturbation…”
And between Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, according to the indictment, Galbraith transported a minor from Alabama to St. Clair County “with the intent that such individual engage in sexual activity for which a person can be charged with a criminal offense, namely” aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
If convicted of the sexual exploitation of children charge, Galbraith faces a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison and a minimum of a 10-year sentence if convicted of the transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the news release.
Three others with connections to the Southern District of Illinois also have been charged in this operation, according to the U.S. Justice Department:
- Christopher A. Geisen, 44, of Pensacola, Florida, faces one count of transportation of child pornography of a 12-year-old minor when he was a resident of Alton in October.
- Ryan G. Jones, 30, of Danville, faces one count of production of child pornography of an 8-year-old minor in February in Williamson County.
- Trevor W. Yokley, 32, of Vandalia, faces one count of attempting to entice a minor in Fayette and Effingham counties from January through April.
“The Department of Justice will never stop fighting to protect victims — especially child victims — and we will not rest until we hunt down, arrest and prosecute every child predator who preys on the most vulnerable among us,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “I am grateful to the FBI and their state and local partners for their incredible work in Operation Restore Justice and have directed my prosecutors not to negotiate.”
