Fulton Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Transporting Child Pornography

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Fulton, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for transporting child pornography over the internet.

Kevin Michael Downey, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Downey to pay a total of $30,000 in restitution to 10 of his victims.

On Nov. 3, 2020, Downey pleaded guilty to one count of transporting child pornography. Downey admitted that he uploaded child pornography to his online Dropbox account. Downey was employed as a corrections officer at the Boone County Jail at the time of the offense.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Department received a CyberTip on Aug. 2, 2019, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, based upon a complaint from Dropbox that Downey had uploaded videos and images of child pornography. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Downey’s residence on Nov. 27, 2019, and arrested Downey on state charges, which were dismissed following the return of the federal indictment. He was arrested in this federal case on Aug. 20, 2020, and has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

Downey admitted to downloading, viewing, and uploading child pornography to Dropbox. Downey also admitted to trading child pornography with others online. Investigators found more than 700 videos and more than 400 images in Downey’s Dropbox account that depicted the rape and molestation of prepubescent children, some as young as infants and toddlers, as well as children bound and children engaged in sexual activity with animals.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Fulton, Mo., 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."