PEORIA, Ill. – A federal jury deliberated for approximately one hour before returning its guilty verdict this afternoon against Timothy Lyle Dean, 38, of the 200 block of Spencer Court, Bourbonnais, Ill., for one count of enticement of a minor.

Over two days of testimony this week, the government presented evidence to establish that Dean was identified when he arranged to meet an individual whom he believed to be a 14-year-old minor for sexual activity on the dating application Grindr. 

Sentencing for Dean has been scheduled for Sept. 14, 2021, before Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm. Dean faces statutory penalties of 10 years to life imprisonment. Dean has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in February 2020.

Dean was arrested and charged as a result of an investigation by the FBI – Springfield Division, with the assistance of the Bradley Police Department, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elly M. Peirson and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon O’Brien-Ranck of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office represent the government.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.