Northland Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

KANSAS CITY, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Missouri man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receiving and attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.

Steven H. Taylor, 23, of Kansas City-North, was charged in an eight-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 29, 2013. The indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Taylor’s arrest and initial court appearance.

The federal indictment charges Taylor with five counts of attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet, two counts of receiving child pornography over the Internet, and one count of possessing child pornography.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Taylor to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including two desktop computers.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the FBI and the Nixa, Missouri Police Department.

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.”