Sterling man loses bid to shorten prison sentences in child sexual abuse images case

MORRISON – A Whiteside County judge has denied reducing the sentences of a Sterling man currently serving up to 24 years in prison on two charges of disseminating child sexual abuse images.

Michael Moreno, 29, was found guilty during a December 2023 bench trial and sentenced to 12 years in prison on each count, to be served consecutively, on March 1. 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.

A motion for a new trial filed in January was denied just before sentencing. A motion for sentence reconsideration was filed March 28.

During the reconsideration hearing Thursday, Whiteside County Public Defender Dana McCormick argued the sentences were excessive because Moreno had no prior criminal record, would be able to be rehabilitated and that prosecutors had made an earlier sentencing recommendation that was shorter than the ordered sentences.

Whiteside County Circuit Court Judge Trish Senneff replied that the videos, which were viewed as evidence during the trial, were “despicable and disgusting” in nature.

“The two young ladies had their childhoods robbed from them,” she said, adding that the two young girls were victimized again when Moreno downloaded the videos in a manner that would allow them to be seen by other people.

“I see no reason to change what I ordered at that time,” Senneff said.

Moreno was formally charged March 16, 2022, after the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force 2 team searched his home, according to an Illinois State Police news release. He faced anywhere from six to 30 years on each count.

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