BENTON, Ill. – A registered sex offender from Swansea, Illinois, has been found guilty of crimes related to 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., 44, 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 minor through text messaging in July 2021. Waeckerle sent the minor a nude image, requested sexually explicit pictures in return, and also talked about meeting up for sex.
Waeckerle had to register as a sex offender following a 2010 conviction for aggravated sexual abuse against a minor in Hamilton County, Illinois.
Due to his prior criminal history, Waeckerle faces a minimum of 25 years in federal prison. He’ll be sentenced on May 21 at the federal courthouse in Benton.
