A St. Clair County resident has pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving child pornography.

James Young, 66, of Dupo, was also charged with five counts of distributing child pornography, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office has agreed to dismiss those charges at the sentencing hearing, scheduled for May 13 in East St. Louis.

Law enforcement agents discovered Young during an online, undercover investigation.

On May 3, 2018, a federal search warrant was executed at Young’s home. His desktop computer was seized and found to contain 2,441 images of child pornography. As part of his plea, Young admitted that he knowingly received child pornography on Nov. 7, 2017 and April 29, 2018.

The FBI investigated the case.

Charges were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”