Mattoon Man to Serve More Than 16 Years in Prison for Child Pornography

A Mattoon resident has been sentenced to 200 months in federal prison for distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography.  The sentence adds up to more than 16 years in prison.

Judge Michael McCuskey also ordered that 27-year-old Joseph Hoult remain on supervised release for the rest of his life once he's released from prison.  Hoult will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Hoult, previously of 2900 block of Shelby Avenue in Mattoon, has remained in the custody of the US Marshals Service since his arrest in June 2012 in Alaska.  A federal criminal complaint was filed against Hoult in July 2012 and a grand jury returned a 12-count indictment in August charging Hoult with six counts of receiving and six counts of distribution of child pornography, as well as one count of possession of child pornography on various dates in 2012.  On June 21, Hoult pled guilty to all the charges against him as charged in the indictment.

The charges were investigated by the Mattoon Police Department, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and the East Central Illinois Cyber Crimes Working Group.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.