Teresa A. Moore U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
An Eldon, Missouri man, David Arabie, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes handed down the statutory maximum sentence without parole and imposed an additional 25 years of supervised release following incarceration.
Arabie, a registered sex offender with previous felony convictions for statutory sodomy and criminal sexual conduct involving minors, pleaded guilty on October 26, 2023. However, during today's hearing, he attempted to withdraw his plea and claimed innocence regarding the charges. The court had already denied his motion to withdraw the guilty plea on December 20, 2024.
According to admissions made by Arabie, he used a peer-to-peer file-sharing network at his in-laws' residence to distribute images of child sexual abuse material to an undercover law enforcement officer. He also acknowledged possession of over 600 images of such material on his computer.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner prosecuted the case following an investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through collaboration among federal, state, and local resources.
