Niles Man Sentenced To Prison For Child Pornography

NILES, Ill. - A suburban Chicago man was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Tuesday on charges of child pornography and exploitation after he threatened the publication of explicit images of an underage girl.

David J. Cottrell, 31, of Niles, pleaded guilty in March 2020 to one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography, after previously being indicted by a grand jury on those charges in October 2018. The two charges carried a maximum combined federal prison sentence of 40 years, according to the United States Department of Justice. The sentencing was handed down by United States District Judge Robert W. Gettleman.

According to the press release by the DOJ, Cottrell convinced an underage girl to send him sexually explicit images. Once in possession of the images, Cottrell told the girl that he knew her real identity and other personal information, including her parents' identities and where she went to school. He then threatened to publish the images online unless the girl sent him further explicit content. In addition to the exploitation of this girl, the DOJ said that Cottrell also admitted to attempting similar schemes with at least four other underage girls.

The DOJ encouraged anyone who has been or knows a victim of sexual exploitation to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-843-5678. Reports or tips of child sexual abuse can also be made on NCMEC's website.