CENTRALIA (IL)
WJBD Radio [Salem IL]
May 23, 2025
By Austin Williams
A 41-year-old former Worship Minister at the Calumet Street Christian Church in Centralia has been sentenced to four years’ probation on five felony counts of child pornography.
As part of the plea, Ian Mophet was ordered to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 and to have no devices that connect to the internet.
Judge Mark Kelly told the court he felt Mophet should be sentenced to prison, but state sentencing guidelines suggested probation was appropriate since Mophet had a clean record before his arrest in this case. However, the judge warned any other infraction would likely send him to prison.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth asked for an eleven-year prison term, and while disappointed, he understands the judge’s rationale.
Mophet entered eight letters from family members and friends in support of him not being sentenced to a prison term. He also made a statement in allocution to the judge.
Mophet moved to Georgia following the incident and his probation in this case was transferred to Georgia.
As part of the original plea entered in March, three other counts of child pornography were dropped including two Class X counts.
Mophet was arrested on the first four charges against him in October 2023 following an investigation which began that August after Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force picked up on child pornography activity in the Centralia area. The other four charges were filed after forensic evidence found other violations.
Two of the felony charges he pleaded guilty depicted a female child under the age of 13 involved in lewd exhibition. The other three counts involved females under the age of 18.
Mophet was terminated from his position at the church after they reviewed the initial evidence with State Police.