EAST ST. LOUIS — A 34-year-old Beckemeyer man has been charged today in a two-count federal criminal complaint with distribution and receipt of child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton announced that Miguel Angel Vasquez Torres was ordered held without bond during a federal hearing today pending trial.

The offenses charged in the complaint allege that on May 4, 2015, Vasquez Torres received and distributed multiple video files containing child pornography. A trial date has not yet been set.

If convicted of distribution and/or receipt of child pornography, Vasquez Torres faces a term in federal prison of not less than five years, up to twenty years, a fine up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of not less than five years up to life on each count.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by the United States 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 more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit usdoj.gov/psc.

For more information about internet safety education, please visit usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

This investigation was conducted by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Metro East Cyber Crimes and Analysis Task Force, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Department. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Ali Summers for prosecution.