A Jacksonville man arrested in December after a six-month child sex abuse material investigation has been sentenced to over a decade in federal prison.
Daniel Brannan, 48, of Jacksonville was sentenced to 12 years in the federal bureau of prisons, 10 years of mandatory supervised release and ordered to pay $300 for a special assessment and $1,000 in restitution. Authorities began investigating Brannan’s online activities in June 2025 after receiving a tip through the Illinois Attorney General’s hotline that child sexual abuse materials were being shared online. The investigation led authorities to trace the activity to an email and internet protocol address in Jacksonville, according to an FBI special agent’s affidavit.
After determining files and conversations were being shared on the platform Kik, police sought and received a warrant to review chat messages between a Jacksonville man and other Kik users about finding child pornography on specific sites.
Law enforcement then executed a search warrant of Brannan’s devices in December, finding nearly 100 files of child sex abuse material on various devices. Brannan is said to have admitted to ownership of the files and devices after his arrest.
Brannan pleaded guilty to all 3 charges in the federal indictment on June 10th.