Sterling man asks court to reconsider 12-year sentences

MORRISON – A Sterling man sentenced to up to 12 years in prison on each of two charges of disseminating child sexual abuse images is asking for his sentence to be reconsidered.

Michael Moreno, 29, was found guilty during a December 2023 bench trial and was sentenced to 12 years in prison on each count, to be served consecutively, March 1. A motion for a new trial, filed in January, was denied just before his sentencing.

He filed a motion for sentence reconsideration March 28. On May 21, he filed a motion for a new trial and sentencing hearing. After a case management conference June 28, the motion to reconsider sentencing now has been furthered on for a hearing at 10 a.m. Sept. 12.

Moreno was formally charged March 16, 2022, after the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force 2 team searched his home on 11th Street, according to an Illinois State Police news release.

According to the charging documents, on Dec. 31, 2021, Moreno shared “a video reproduction or depiction by a computer” of a girl younger than 13 who exposed herself, and, on Jan. 18, 2022, shared another of a girl younger than 13 being sexually assaulted by a man.

The case was investigated by state police with assistance from Homeland Security investigators and the Sterling Police Department.