Man Indicted for Enticing Missing Teen for Illicit Sex

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a man previously charged with attempting to entice a missing Springfield, Mo., teenager to engage in illicit sexual activity has been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Dominic Keith Pearson, 25, no known address, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017. The federal indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against Pearson on Jan. 11, 2017.

The indictment contains the same charge as the original criminal complaint, alleging that Pearson attempted to entice a minor to engage in illicit sex.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the complaint, the 13-year-old child victim – identified in court documents as “Jane Doe” – was reported missing from her home in Springfield on Jan. 8, 2017. Investigators found a series of messages between Pearson and Jane Doe on a cell phone, the affidavit says, indicating that Pearson was traveling to meet Jane Doe.

On Jan. 10, 2017, Pearson and Jane Doe were located in a truckers lounge at Petro Truck Stop off Interstate 70 near Oak Grove, Mo. Both Pearson and Jane Doe had luggage with them in the lounge.

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge 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 Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Oak Grove, 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."