Belleville man charged with possession of child sexual abuse material; Attorney General Raoul is leading the action

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has filed charges against Joshua Gallant, a 42-year-old Belleville resident, for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material. Gallant faces ten counts of possession of child pornography involving a child under the age of 13, with each charge representing a Class 2 felony that could result in up to seven years in prison. According to the Attorney General’s Office, this case is just one part of a larger, ongoing effort to target those who traffic in such reprehensible material online.

In a statement last week, Raoul expressed his commitment to the victims of this form of exploitation, saying: “Children who are victims of online exploitation deserve a healing process that starts with holding the perpetrators accountable for the trauma they have suffered.” causes.” As part of this mission, Raoul’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force works closely with both federal and local agencies to arrest individuals responsible for these heinous crimes. Gallant is currently being held in the St. Clair County Jail and his tentative trial date has been set for October 7.

Raoul investigators worked with Belleville police to execute a search warrant at Gallant’s residence on October 3, leading to his arrest following the discovery of incriminating evidence. As standard protocol dictates, Gallant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The task force that led the investigation is part of a larger national network focused on tackling child exploitation crimes. The Illinois version of the task force is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and is one of 61 ICAC task forces across the country.

The overflowing concerns from CyberTips at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which flow to state task forces like Raoul’s, demonstrate the ongoing fight against child exploitation. In 2023, the task force saw a 46% increase in the number of reports compared to the previous year. Since 2019, the task force has received more than 46,150 CyberTips and has been instrumental in more than 755 arrests of sexual predators. The initiative also extends to training tens of thousands of concerned citizens and law enforcement professionals in internet safety education.

Assistant Attorney General Jenifer Peck will prosecute the case for the Attorney General’s High Tech Crimes Bureau. The public is urged to report any cases of child sexual exploitation to cybertipline.com and cases of child abuse to dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov. Further resources, such as local children’s advocacy centers, can be found at Childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org for those seeking help.