URBANA, Ill. — A traveling gospel singer from Indiana was sentenced Tuesday to serve 60 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting a minor and distributing child pornography.
Shawn Shannon, 45, from Muncie, Indiana, was also ordered to pay $1,387 in restitution to the victim and must serve a lifetime of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. After a three-day jury trial, on July 27, 2016, Shannon was convicted of 19 counts of sexually exploiting a minor and one count of distributing child pornography.
According to evidence presented at trial, Shannon lured a 13-year-old boy to a hotel in Decatur and directed him to pose for a series of sexually explicit photos which Shannon took with his smartphone. The evidence showed that Shannon attempted to delete evidence from his iPhone 5s, which included thousands of text messages and contacts after the victim’s mother learned of Shannon’s conduct and confronted him.
Expert testimony presented at trial revealed that forensic examiners were able to recover these text messages which demonstrated Shannon’s nefarious intentions with the victim. Shannon also engaged in sexual contact with another boy and took similar photos, according to trial evidence.
