South Carolina man sentenced to life for child sex offenses

SPRINGFIELD - A repeat child sex offender from South Carolina has been sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Sixty-six-year-old Jerry Lee Hendricks was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield.

Hendricks was convicted in July 2013. Trial testimony indicated that in May 2011, he coerced and photographed a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct in Kankakee County. He was a convicted sex offender at the time.

The case was part of Project Safe Childhood. It is a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation launched by the Justice Department in 2006.

The effort coordinates federal, state and local law enforcement resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute sexual exploitation of minors.