EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A registered sex offender from Swansea, Illinois, appeared in federal court to be sentenced for sexually exploiting a minor.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said a federal jury convicted Dan R. Waeckerle Jr., 45, in January of soliciting an obscene visual depiction of a minor, transferring obscene matter to a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, and offense by a registered sex offender.
During trial, prosecutors showed Waeckerle had sexually explicit conversations with a 15-year-old through text messaging in July 2021. Waeckerle sent the minor a nude image, requested sexually explicit pictures in return, and talked about meeting up for sex.
Waeckerle previously had to register as a sex offender following a 2010 conviction for aggravated sexual abuse against a minor in Hamilton County, Illinois.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Waeckerle to 485 months—more than 40 years—in federal prison. Waeckerle was also ordered to serve a lifetime of supervised release and pay a $1,000 fine.
