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Press Release

Gladstone Man Indicted for Producing, Distributing Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Gladstone, Missouri, man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing and attempting to distribute child pornography.

Joshua Paul Goodspeed, 45, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Goodspeed on June 21, 2021.

Today’s indictment charges Goodspeed with one count of producing child pornography, which involved two child victims, and one count of attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, FBI agents identified Goodspeed during an investigation of a secure file sharing platform, identified in court documents as “Cloud A.” Goodspeed allegedly was among users of the platform who accessed, imported, or maintained video files from a series that depicts the sadistic sexual exploitation, torture, and abuse of a toddler.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Goodspeed’s residence on June 16, 2021. Investigators found hundreds of files of child pornography on Goodspeed’s iPhone, laptop, and external hard drive, including some photos of child victims allegedly taken by Goodspeed. Goodspeed’s file-sharing application account contained more than 1,000 videos of child pornography.

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 Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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."

Updated July 20, 2021

Topic
Project Safe Childhood