Morgan County Man Sentenced to 24 Years for Child Pornography

Gary Steininger, 50, of South Jacksonville was sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to two Class X felony counts of dissemination of child pornography involving children under the age of 13. Morgan County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Reif handed down the sentence following Steininger’s guilty plea, a case brought by Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.

Investigators from Attorney General Raoul’s office, working with the South Jacksonville Police Department, executed a search of Steininger’s residence in May 2025 and arrested him after discovering evidence that he had shared child sexual abuse material. The prosecution was handled by Deputy Bureau Chief Shantikumar Kulkarni of Raoul’s High Tech Crimes Bureau.

Attorney General Raoul emphasized the harm caused by the online trade in exploitative images. “Survivors of child abuse and exploitation are revictimized every time an individual downloads or trades one of these horrific images,” Raoul said. “My office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force works tirelessly to hold accountable individuals who exploit children. We will continue to partner with local law enforcement to identify and prosecute these offenders.”

The conviction comes amid expanding reports of online child sexual exploitation. Raoul’s office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, operates the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which receives CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. CyberTipline reports to the Illinois ICAC Task Force rose 45 percent in 2025 compared with 2024. The Illinois task force is one of 61 ICAC task forces nationally and includes a network of more than 200 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Since 2019 the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has received more than 76,500 CyberTips and been involved in over 1,800 arrests of sexual predators; since 2006 the task force has been involved in more than 2,500 arrests. In 2025 the task force participated in rescuing more than 30 child victims from ongoing abuse and provided internet safety training to more than 1 million parents, teachers and students and over 25,000 law enforcement professionals.

For Morgan County residents, the case is a reminder of the local impact of global online networks and the need for vigilance. South Jacksonville and surrounding communities rely on coordinated investigations between state and local agencies to detect and disrupt exploitation that often originates beyond county lines.

Report suspected child sexual exploitation online at cybertipline.com, report child abuse at dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov, or find local child advocacy centers at childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org. The Steininger conviction reinforces that prosecutions are ongoing and that community reporting and law enforcement collaboration remain central to protecting children.