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Press Release

Kirbyville Man Sentenced for Child Pornography

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kirbyville, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Thomas R. Keller, 37, of Kirbyville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to seven years in federal prison without parole, followed by a 10-year term of supervised release.

On May 4, 2017, Keller pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, Keller downloaded seven videos and 371 images of child pornography onto his computer. Keller admitted that he had been downloading child pornography onto his computer for two to three years, and his age of preference was 14- or 15-year-old children.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime 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."

Updated September 14, 2017

Topic
Project Safe Childhood