Streamwood Man Sentenced to Nearly 7 Years in Prison for Enticing Underage Boy to Produce Sexually Explicit Videos

CHICAGO — A Streamwood man was sentenced today to nearly seven years in federal prison for enticing a 16-year-old boy to produce sexually explicit videos of himself.

MICHAEL LIEDTKE, 35, pleaded guilty last year to one count of receipt of child pornography.  U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo imposed a sentence of six years and eleven months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Douglas S. Beidler, Acting Deputy Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and Robert Berlin, DuPage County State’s Attorney.  The Carol Stream Police Department provided valuable assistance.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abigail Peluso and Matthew McCrobie.

Liedtke admitted in a plea agreement that in December 2016 he enticed the 16-year-old boy to create two sexually explicit videos and send them to Liedtke via cellphone.  During a court-authorized search of Liedtke’s home last year, law enforcement discovered an external disk drive that contained 29 images and six videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Each of the children depicted in the images and videos was identified as a known child victim by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Liedtke also admitted in the plea agreement that in January 2019 he possessed and operated a video camera that he intentionally hid in the ceiling of a public restroom at the DuPage County Training Academy in Carol Stream.  Recordings from the camera depicted the unclothed body parts of approximately 400 people using the restroom, including approximately 300 children under the age of 18.  Liedtke acknowledged in the plea agreement that he placed the video camera in the restroom to obtain the images.

After Liedtke pleaded guilty in federal court, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the parallel state criminal charges filed against Liedtke.

“My office will continue to prosecute and hold accountable those individuals who prey upon our youth,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch.  “We appreciate the outstanding work of our colleagues at the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office, as well as our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, who worked together to bring justice on behalf of the victims in this case.”

“Thanks to the coordinated efforts of law enforcement and prosecutorial partners at all levels, Mr. Liedtke will be held accountable for victimizing hundreds of our community’s most vulnerable citizens,” said FBI Acting Deputy SAC Beidler.  “The FBI will always strive to safeguard our youth from those who seek to exploit them.”

“I would like to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work in removing this sexual predator from society,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Berlin said.  “Mr. Liedtke’s deviant actions demonstrate his complete disregard for others and society as a whole.  While this has been a very disturbing case, Mr. Liedtke’s guilty plea and nearly seven-year sentence underscores the close partnership shared by local and federal authorities working together to keep our communities safe.”

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.com/home or by calling 1-800-843-5678.  The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.