A Pekin, Illinois man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempted enticement of a minor. Joseph D. Perkins, 32, received the sentence in U.S. District Court before Judge Michael M. Mihm. After serving his prison term, Perkins will be subject to seven years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Evidence presented at Perkins’s April 2025 jury trial showed that from January 2023 through March 2024, he communicated online with someone he believed was a fourteen-year-old girl. Over this period, Perkins made several attempts to obtain nude photographs and tried multiple times to arrange meetings for sexual activities. He was arrested by federal law enforcement officers after arriving at a planned meeting in late March 2024.
Perkins was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024 and found guilty at trial one year later. He has remained in custody since his arrest on a federal complaint in March 2024.
According to federal law, attempted enticement of a minor carries mandatory penalties of ten years to life imprisonment and supervised release terms ranging from five years to life.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Springfield Field Office led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa P. Ortiz and Douglas F. McMeyer prosecuted the case.
The prosecution was part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies to locate offenders and rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
