December 30, 2015

Northland Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography

KANSAS CITY, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.

Steven H. Taylor, 25, of Kansas City-North, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to the charge contained in a Jan. 29, 2013, federal indictment.

According to today’s plea agreement, an undercover federal agent identified Taylor’s computer as sharing images of child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. The agent downloaded a video file of child pornography from Taylor’s computer.

The agent executed a search warrant at Taylor’s residence and seized his electronic media. According to the plea agreement, investigators identified more than 600 images of child pornography on Taylor’s computers.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Taylor will not seek a sentence of less than six years in federal prison without parole and the government will not seek a sentence of more than 10 years in federal prison without parole. Taylor must pay $5,000 in restitution to one of the victims portrayed in the child pornography collection, or $3,000 if he can pay the latter sum within 30 days of the sentencing date. Taylor must forfeit two desktop computers, which were used to commit the offense, to the government. 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 Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the FBI and the Nixa, 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.”