A Missouri man from O'Fallon has admitted to possessing child sexual abuse material across various electronic devices and an online cloud account. Davie John Metzger, 55, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of receipt of child pornography. Metzger admitted to possessing a significant amount of material: 369 images on a flash drive, 24 on a hard drive, 211 in an online storage account, and 343 on a cell phone.
His actions led to three CyberTipline reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. One such tip, dated June 30, 2023, was triggered by the upload of an image depicting a girl estimated to be between 3 and 7 years old. A court-approved search of his online account also uncovered photos of women and girls that he had taken without their knowledge in public places.
Sentencing for Metzger is scheduled for July 8. The offense has a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and could lead up to 20 years in prison. The FBI and the St. Charles County Cybercrime Task Force conducted the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is managing the prosecution.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. The project aims to combat the growing problem of child sexual exploitation and abuse. It combines the efforts of various governmental resources to find, arrest, and prosecute those who exploit children over the Internet and to identify and rescue victims. Further details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
