Ogle County Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Federal Prison for Distributing Child Pornography via Social Media and Instant Messaging Platforms

ROCKFORD - An Ogle County man has been sentenced to fourteen years in federal prison for distributing child pornography via social media and instant messaging platforms.

RANDY WITHROW, 42, of Leaf River, Ill., admitted in a plea agreement earlier this year that he used multiple Instagram and Viber accounts to receive, upload, and distribute videos and images that he knew depicted child pornography. Withrow acknowledged that, in total, he knowingly possessed at least 1,447 videos and 1,406 images of child pornography on his electronic devices, including material involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of an infant or toddler.

On Oct. 1, 2026, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Withrow to a term of 14 years in federal prison and ordered that it be followed by 20 years of court-supervised release. Judge Johnston also ordered Withrow to pay $22,500 in restitution to his known victims.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora Anderson.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, while also providing critical services to victims.

If you believe you are a victim of sexual exploitation, you are encouraged to contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by logging on to www.missingkids.comLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. or by calling 1-800-843-5678. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.