Mercer County Child Porn Case Pushed To Next Year In Federal Court

William Ashby

Aaron Beauchamp

A child porn case that originated in Mercer County has now been pushed into next year at U.S. District Court in Rock Island. A pre-trial conference on Thursday was continued to January 10th for William Ashby of East Moline and Aaron Beauchamp of Matherville. A jury trial is now scheduled for March 5th. Both are charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child—punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison upon conviction. The two were originally charged at the state level in March of 2016 for incidents involving a 16-year-old juvenile. Beauchamp and Ashby remain in U.S. Marshals Service custody.