Chicago man sentenced to 28 years for child porn

A Chicago man was sentenced Monday to 28 years in federal prison for producing hundreds of photos and videos of child pornography and setting up sexual encounters with minors in Aurora and Gary, Indiana.

Authorities said Christopher M. Hall, 44, arranged three sexual encounters for two underage girls whom he met through online mobile chat applications.

One of the girls was 12 when she first encountered Hall online, and he groomed her through sexually explicit communications that included sending her child pornography, federal prosecutors said. Hall directed each girl to write "Owned by CH" on her body, and then photograph it and send the image to him.

Authorities said Hall took or used sexually explicit photos of the girls and posted them in sex advertisements on Craigslist. He then told the girls to have intercourse with him and several men who responded to the ads, and took videos and photos.

Two of those encounters took place in Aurora, while the third was in Gary.

Hall pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of inducement and enticement of a minor for the production of child pornography and one count of knowingly transporting child pornography. U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin handed down the sentence.

Prosecutors said the investigation began when one of Hall's victims went missing from her home in Michigan. Authorities identified email communications between the girl and Hall and, during a search of his residence, found a collection of child pornography that included more than 7,000 images and videos of minors.

Authorities were able to identify dozens of the children, some of whom were younger than 12 years at the time the images were created.

Roughly 30 of the victims submitted statements to the court in advance of Hall's sentencing.