24-year-old Alexander Knotts has been sentenced to 40 years in prison on Class X dissemination of child pornography felonies. The Mt. Carmel man was arrested in October of 2022 when investigators with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, with the assistance of the Mt. Carmel Police Department, conducted a search at Knotts’ residence in the 200 block of East 12th Street in Mt. Carmel and discovered evidence of child pornography. Originally, Knotts was charged with five counts of dissemination of child pornography, Class X felonies, each punishable by up to 30 years in prison and up to $100,000 in fines.
During a sentencing hearing Tuesday in Wabash County Circuit Court, Judge William C. Hudson sentenced Knotts’ to 20 years in prison on two of the counts with the terms to be served consecutively. In exchange for the guilty plea from Knotts’, the other charges were dismissed. Testimony during the sentencing hearing revealed Knotts did not create any of the content but viewed videos that included girls under the age of 13 with some even being infants and toddlers. While out on bond awaiting sentencing, Knotts was arrested last month by MCPD for possession of drug paraphernalia. The arrest was part of the Attorney General office’s efforts to investigate and prosecute child pornographers in Illinois.
Alexander Knotts is led back to the Wabash County Jail after being sentenced to 40 years in prison.