A 44-year-old Vandalia man who was an assistant preacher at the Pentecostal Church of Patoka has been charged in Fayette County Court with reproducing and disseminating child pornography. Ferrell Mason Kissiar was also recently a teacher’s aide at Cornerstone Academy in Nokomis.
He faces three counts of dissemination of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography, and a single charge of reproduction of child pornography. Two of the charges are Class X felonies. Bond for Kissiar was set at $250,000.
The case is the result of a partnership between the office of Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and local law enforcement. Raoul called child pornography a horrific crime that victimizes the child, the child’s family and impacts the entire community.
The arrest came after Raoul’s investigators, with the assistance of the Vandalia Police Department, conducted a search of a residence on Monday in the 400 block of Poplar Street in Vandalia and arrested Kissiar after discovering evidence that he allegedly reproduced and disseminated child pornography.
Fayette County State’s Attorney Josh Morrison says the arrest is a culmination of a tremendous amount of work by the Attorney General’s investigators. He says as State’s Attorney, he pledges to continue to do everything he can to protect the citizens of Fayette County from dangerous criminals and especially those who would seek to harm children.
Note: While the press release from the Illinois Attorney General identifies the name of the Patoka Pentecostal Church as a United Pentecostal Church we are told the church is no longer affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church and is independent.
