Project Safe Childhood
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.
James A. Rhea, 32, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to ten years in federal prison without parole.
On Nov. 25, 2013, Rhea pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.
On Aug. 17, 2010, Rhea took his laptop computer to a Northland Best Buy store for repairs. After a repair person discovered apparent child pornography on the computer, a report was made to the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department. A search of the computer revealed that it contained more than 400 images and more than 40 videos of child pornography. The computer search also turned up emails which contained child pornography being sent and received by Rhea. Rhea was questioned by police detectives and admitted to receiving child pornography through email and Web chats. Rhea also admitted to having an online profile in which he portrayed himself as an 18-year-old female.
According to court documents, Rhea resumed downloading child pornography on his cell phone after he was questioned by police detectives and his laptop was confiscated. When Rhea was later arrested, he was in possession of a cell phone that contained an email, which showed images of child pornography.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
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."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
