A 62-year old Vandalia man plead guilty in Fayette County Court on Wednesday and was sentenced to time in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 62-year old Manuel Prater plead guilty to 5 counts of child pornography and as part of a plea deal with the State and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Prater was originally charged with 17 counts of child pornography but plead guilty to the first 5 charges with the remaining 12 being dropped as part of the plea. With the guilty plea, Prater is sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by 3 years of mandatory supervised release for each of the five charges. The five sentences will be served consecutively totaling up to 50 years in prison.
Prater was also found to be responsible for a $2000 child pornography fine for each count as well as court costs. However, a defense motion to find the amount uncollectable was granted by the court. Following the plea hearing, Prater was remanded to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department for transport to the DOC.
Story Courtesy of Todd Stapleton of Vandalia Radio.