Carthage Man Sentenced for Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Carthage, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography.

James Beam, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Beam to 20 years of supervised release following incarceration. Beam will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.

On Sept. 20, 2023, Beam pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.

An undercover FBI agent made contact with Beam through the Kik application in April 2023. Beam expressed a sexual interest in children and expressed his desire to meet for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with the undercover agent’s niece.

Beam sent the undercover agent a video of child pornography on April 14, 2023. On the same day, Beam informed the undercover agent of his intent to abduct and rape a child. Beam said there were several old houses in the country near him where he could take the child. Because the undercover agent felt a child was in imminent risk of being kidnapped and sexually assaulted, an exigent request was submitted to Kik for Beam’s account information, which investigators used to identify and locate him.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Southwest Cybercrimes Task Force and the FBI.

Project Safe Childhood

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."