SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Lebanon, Mo., sex offender has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.
George Wayne Scott, 62, of Lebanon, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017.
The federal indictment alleges that Scott received and distributed child pornography over the Internet on Feb. 28, 2017.
Scott has prior felony convictions for crossing state lines to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor, transporting a minor across state lines for illicit sexual activity, coercion and enticement, receiving and distributing child pornography and possessing child pornography. Due to his status as a convicted sex offender, the indictment carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison without parole upon conviction.
Larson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Lebanon, Mo., Police Department 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."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
