Home St. Louis Press Releases 2009 Lincoln County Man and Indiana Associate Indicted on Multiple Child Exploitation Charges
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Lincoln County Man and Indiana Associate Indicted on Multiple Child Exploitation Charges

U.S. Attorney’s Office December 03, 2009
  • Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS, MO—Michael Paul Martin and Jose Carlos Garcia were indicted on multiple charges including the production, receipt, and possession of child pornography, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap announced today.

Martin, 32, Troy, MO, was indicted by a federal grand jury late Thursday on three felony counts of production of child pornography, one felony count of receipt of child pornography, and one felony count of possession of child pornography.

Garcia, 22, Scherville, IN, was indicted by a federal grand jury on one felony count of production  of child pornography.

According to the indictment, between January 1, 2008 and September 19, 2009, Martin induced three different minor children to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could photograph them. He also is charged with receiving and possessing child pornography during the same time period.

The indictment alleges that Garcia participated in the June 2009 photographing of one minor child.

If convicted, production of child pornography carries a penalty range of 15 to 30 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; receipt of child pornography carries a penalty range of five to 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000; and possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000.

Jose Carlos Garcia is also charged in U.S. District Court in Chicago with child pornography related offenses as part of  the Chicago FBI’s Innocent Images Task Force investigation of an informal group of self-described “Boy Lovers.” This group was interested and involved in the exploitation of minor children, specifically underage boys.

“The fact a group of men can call themselves ‘Boy Lovers’ shows just how deranged child predators are, “ said Mike Kaste, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in St. Louis. “It is outrageous to describe sexually exploiting innocent children as love."

These cases are 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.

Reap commended the work on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department; and Assistant United States Attorney Carrie Costantin, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations, and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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