A man from Murphysboro got sentenced on Friday to over 20-years in prison, after being charged with sexually assaulting a child and for producing child pornography. 67-year-old Paul Blaney was sentenced inside the Jackson County Court to 24-years in jail for criminal sexual assault to a child and an additional 8-years for producing child pornography. Blaney was arrested back in December, after a 14-month investigation by police. The Murphysboro Police Department stated that the charges came 4 days after authorities found evidence of the production and possession of child pornography, during a search of his home. He was initially charged with 5 Class X felony counts of production of child pornography of a victim under 13-years-old and one Class X felony charge of predatory criminal sexual assault to a victim under 13. He plead guilty back in March for 2 of his charges, in exchange for the other 4 being dismissed. He was also given credit for the 165 days already served in the county jail. The judge also ruled that he must serve at least 85-percent of his prison sentence.
