A 39-year-old Centralia man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after entering a negotiated plea in Marion County Court to two counts of child pornography.
Thomas Jones of Dean Street was sentenced to 15 years apiece on the two Class X counts. Under state law the sentences must run consecutively. As part of the plea, two other counts of Class X child pornography were dropped.
Jones was arrested last August after a search warrant was executed on his home by Centralia Police, the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Police. Several electronic items were recovered that allegedly showed a child under the age of 13 engaged in sexual activity.
Once Jones gets out of prison, he will have to be on mandatory supervised release from three years to life.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth was pleased with the 30-year sentence, noting it will keep Jones in prison until his mid-50s.
