Source: United States Department of Justice News
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Marionville, Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for producing child pornography and for receiving and distributing child pornography over the internet.
James Crowder, 78, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes on Thursday, March 17, to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Crowder to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.
On March 29, 2021, Crowder pleaded guilty to one count of using a minor to produce child pornography and one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.
According to court documents, a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in June 2020 indicated that Google discovered files that contained child pornography uploaded to Crowder’s account and that Twitter discovered a file that contained child pornography in Crowder’s tweet.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Crowder’s residence on Aug. 6, 2020. Crowder was questioned and admitted he had exchanged images and videos of child pornography (depicting children as young as five years old) with others for a period of at least four years. Crowder also told investigators he placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to obtain videos and images of children, then distributed those files over the internet.
Officers seized several digital storage devices, which contained multiple images of child pornography. Investigators also found evidence that Crowder had actively received and distributed a number of images and videos of child pornography over the internet.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”