
Gary L. Boyle, 35, of Decatur, Illinois. [Image credit: Harold & Review]
As a part of a plea deal, 35-year-old Gary L. Boyle pleaded guilty to a single state charge of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, a Class X felony in July 2020.
The plea deal negotiated by his defense attorney Susan Moorehead arranged for the additional state charges he faced which were seven charges of predatory criminal sexual assault, six charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and two charges of criminal sexual assault to be dismissed.
In exchange for the single guilty plea, he agreed to a sentence of 40 years in prison of which he will be required to serve at least 34 years, or 85% of the sentence.
Boyle was arrested February 21, 2019 after a search warrant was served at his residence by the Macron county Sheriff's Office as a result of a tip obtained from the Department of Homeland Security concerning a child pornography ring that extended into Canada.
Evidence obtained during that search revealed that Boyle had been raping a girl under the age of 13 for a number of years and had been filming the assaults.
“(The victim) has stated that this defendant had been sexually abusing her for four years and that it had been ongoing,” Special Prosecutor Kate Kurtz was quoted as saying by the Herald-Review. “Based on the video evidence, as well as statements (the victim) has made, it has been determined that this defendant (raped the victim) for the purpose of sexual gratification.”
With the conclusion of the state case, a federal case against Boyle was able to proceed.
Federal prosecutors described Boyle as "a manipulative pedophile who consumes young children for his own sexual pleasure," and stated he was "an avid collector of violent child pornography" which depicted children from infancy to six or eight years old who were bound while being violently abused by adults. Boyle was also said to have live-streamed abuse of an eight-year-old victim.
"On September 6, 2020 Boyle pleaded guilty to seven counts of child sexual exploitation and one count of possession of child pornography," a statement from the Department of Justice reads.
Boyle was sentenced on January 14, 2021 to a term of 50 years in federal prison, to be served consecutively to his state sentence, by U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid.