A Chicago man was sentenced Monday to 28 years in federal prison for producing child pornography with two underage girls he met through online chat applications.
Christopher M. Hall, 44, pleaded guilty earlier this year to single counts of inducement and enticement of a minor for the production of child pornography and knowingly transporting child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Hall arranged three sexual encounters with the girls, one of whom was 12 years old when she met him online, prosecutors said. He groomed the young girl by sending her sexually explicit messages that included child pornography. In addition, Hall directed both girls to write “Owned by CH” on their bodies and told them to photograph the inscription and send him the image.
Hall posted sexually explicit photos of the girls in Craigslist advertisements that were used to set up the encounters, prosecutors said. Hall then told the girls to have sex with him and several other men who responded to the ads. During the encounters, which took place in Aurora and Gary, Indiana, Hall took photos and videos.
When one of the girls was reported missing from her Michigan home, police found she had been emailing with Hall. During a search of his home, officers found a cache of child pornography, which included more than 7,000 images and videos of minors. Authorities identified dozens of the children, some of whom were less than 12 years old when the images were created.
Nearly 30 of the victims gave statements before the sentencing detailing the harm caused by the exploitation of their images by Hall and other individuals, prosecutors said.
