Chicago — Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced the Attorney General’s office has charged a Christian County man with alleged possession of child pornography. The case is part of Raoul’s ongoing work, in collaboration with federal law enforcement agencies and local law enforcement officials throughout Illinois, to apprehend offenders who download and trade child pornography online.
Raoul’s office, in conjunction with the Christian County State’s Attorney’s office, charged Billy J. Hulfachor, 36, of Pana, Illinois, in Christian County Circuit Court with 10 counts of possession of child pornography, all Class 1 felonies, and one count of violating the sex offender registration act, a Class 2 felony. The current charges are punishable by up to 150 years in prison because Hulfachor was convicted in 2003 in Edgar County for aggravated criminal sexual abuse of an 11-year-old child and also convicted in 2013 in Sangamon County for failure to register as a sex offender. Hulfachor’s next court appearance is Jan. 23.
“Repeat offenders like Billy Hulfachor must be held accountable to ensure innocent children are protected from exploitation that can potentially leave life-long emotional scars,” Raoul said. “I’m incredibly proud of the hard work and collaboration between my investigators, local agencies and our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.”
“I want to thank our men and women in law enforcement from Christian County, Christian County Sheriff's Department, Chief Deputy Jim Baker, Chief Daniel Bland and Pana Police Department, who aided in both the investigation and the execution of a search warrant that led to the arrest of Billy Hulfachor,” said John McWard, Christian County State’s Attorney. “Thank you to the prosecutor of the Attorney General’s Office, Katie Hegarty, for her professionalism and focus on ridding Christian County of predatory criminals. Furthermore, I want to thank Investigator Jared McDermet for his determination and quick acting to secure the arrest of Hulfachor.”
“We are fortunate to have the support and resources available to work closely with such an amazing team with the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force, who are committed to the safety and protection of our children,” said Pana Police Chief Daniel Bland.
Raoul’s investigators, with the assistance of the Pana Police Department and Christian County Sheriff's Office, conducted a search of Hulfachor’s residence Thursday, Jan. 19, in the 100 block of South Sheridan Street in Pana and arrested him after discovering evidence of child pornography. Attorney General Raoul’s office will lead the prosecution of this case.
The public is reminded the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The arrest is part of Attorney General Raoul’s work to investigate and prosecute child pornographers in Illinois. Raoul’s office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that investigates child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. The task force receives CyberTips, or online reports of child pornography, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Over the last several years, CyberTipline reports have steadily increased. In 2021, reports to the ICAC increased by 42% over 2020.
Illinois’ ICAC Task Force is one of 61 ICAC Task Forces throughout the country and is comprised of a network of more than 285 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Since 2019, the Attorney General's ICAC Task Force has received more than 24,960 CyberTips and has been involved in more than 426 arrests of sexual predators. Since 2006, the Attorney General’s ICAC Task Force has been involved in more than 1,858 arrests of sexual predators. The task force also has provided internet safety training and education to more than 965,579 parents, teachers and students, in addition to more than 23,295 law enforcement professionals.
Katherine C. Hegarty is handling the case for Raoul’s High Tech Crimes Bureau.
