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Kansas City Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

U.S. Attorney’s Office October 14, 2009
  • Western District of Missouri (816) 426-3122

KANSAS CITY, MO—Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing child pornography to a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, but who was in reality an undercover law enforcement officer.

Steven E. Robbins, 53, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner this morning to 14 years in federal prison without parole.

On April 2, 2009, Robbins pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography. Robbins admitted that on Nov. 7, 2006, he communicated over the Internet with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, but who in reality was an undercover law enforcement officer. Robbins transmitted video of himself masturbating via live webcam and sent several images of child pornography (including three child pornography images of known victims of approximately 9 to 11 years of age) over the Internet.

Robbins also admitted that he had been trading images of child pornography online approximately twice a week over a two-year period. A forensic examination of Robbins’ computer unearthed approximately 130 still images and two movies of child pornography, including multiple images of victims under the age of 12 and images that depicted sadistic behavior. Investigators also discovered hundreds of additional images of child pornography found in temporary Internet space, drive free space and cache.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Washington State Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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