ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OBTAINS 10-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO POSSESSED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL OBTAINS 10-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER WHO POSSESSED CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL

March 10, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a Lebanon, Illinois man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing child sexual abuse material. 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 sexual abuse material online.

Tyson Schmitt, 41, was sentenced today by St. Clair County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Watson after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, Class 2 felonies. Schmitt is a registered sex offender from a 2013 conviction for indecent solicitation of a child, indecent solicitation to meet a child and sexual exploitation of a child.

"Survivors of child exploitation and their families face a lifetime of trauma from reprehensible images on the internet," Raoul said. "My office will continue to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to protect Illinois children by identifying and holding offenders who prey on them accountable."

Raoul's investigators conducted a search of Schmitt residence in Lebanon in March 2022. He was taken into custody after investigators discovered evidence of child sexual abuse material.

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 sexual abuse material, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Over the last several years, CyberTipline reports have steadily increased. In 2025, reports to the ICAC Task Force increased by 45% over 2024.

Illinois' ICAC Task Force is one of 61 ICAC task forces throughout the country and is comprised of a network of more than 200 local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Since 2019, the Attorney General's ICAC Task Force has received more than 76,500 CyberTips and has been involved in more than 1,800 arrests of sexual predators. Since 2006, the Attorney General's ICAC Task Force has been involved in more than 2,500 arrests of sexual predators. In 2025, the task force was involved in rescuing more than 30 child victims from ongoing abuse. The task force also has provided internet safety training and education to over 1 million parents, teachers, students and more than 25,000 law enforcement professionals.

Attorney General Raoul is reminding the public that child sexual exploitation can be reported online at cybertipline.com and child abuse at dcfsonlinereporting.dcfs.illinois.gov. In addition, local child advocacy centers can be found at childrensadvocacycentersofillinois.org.

Assistant Attorney General Jenifer Peck prosecuted the case for Raoul's High Tech Crimes Bureau.