Lee’s Summit Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography, Sextortion Scheme

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Lee’s Summit, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to a sextortion scheme in which he threatened victims, including minors, to extort them into sending him pornographic images and videos of themselves.

Marek Redding, 20, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to two counts of producing child pornography, one count of distributing child pornography, and one count of extortion. Redding has been detained since his arrest and remains in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing.

Redding, using fake female personas on a social media application, received nude photographs from multiple females, including minors, which he sold or offered to sell to others. According to court documents, some victims reported that Redding threatened to distribute or publicly post their images if they did not continue sending nude images, some of which constituted child pornography.

By pleading guilty today, Redding admitted that he induced two minor victims to produce child pornography in January 2022 and March 2022, and that he distributed the child pornography. Redding also admitted that he transmitted threats to injure the reputation of an adult victim in April 2022 in order to obtain more photographs from the victim.

According to court documents, the adult victim told investigators she had sent nude images to Redding. When she attempted to stop, Redding threatened to disclose her images to her family, school, and employer.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Redding and the government jointly request the court to impose a total sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison D. Dunning. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department, the Grain Valley, Mo., Police Department, the Olathe, Kan., Police Department, 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."