SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Joplin, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Kevin Wilson, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Wilson to 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.
On May 30, 2019, Wilson pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. Wilson uploaded multiple images of child pornography to his Instagram account, which triggered a CyberTipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Wilson’s residence on April 2, 2018, and seized a computer and compact discs that contained child pornography.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) 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
