The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has charged a Northern Macoupin County man with soliciting and possessing child pornography. Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office announced today that 20 year old Allyn Matthew Byrtle of Nilwood was charged in Macoupin County Circuit Court with one count of solicitation of child pornography, a Class X felony punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison, and two counts of possession of child pornography, Class 2 felonies punishable by up to 3 to 7 years in prison. Burtle’s bond was set at $200,000.
Raoul’s investigators, with the assistance of the Macoupin County Sheriff’s office, conducted a search of a residence on Wednesday on Ryder Street in Nilwood and arrested Burtle after discovering evidence that he had allegedly solicited child pornography. The Attorney General’s office will prosecute the case along with the Macoupin County State’s Attorney’s office.
The arrest is part of Attorney General’s Office’s work to investigate and prosecute child pornographers in Illinois. Raoul’s office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. Since 2006, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has been involved in more than 1,700 arrests of sexual predators. The task force has also provided internet safety training and education to more than 950,000 parents, teachers and students and more than 22,000 law enforcement professionals.