Skip to main content
Press Release

Slater Man Indicted for Transporting a Minor for Illicit Sex

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Slater, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for transporting a 16-year-old victim across state lines for illegal sexual activity.

Daniel Lee Kirby, 34, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo., on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. The federal indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against Kirby on July 3, 2018.

The federal indictment alleges that Kirby transported an individual under the age of 17 between March 4, 2018, and June 25, 2018, with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, the 16-year-old victim was discovered missing from her bedroom in East Ridge, Tenn., at approximately 1:20 a.m. on March 4, 2018. Kirby was employed as a truck driver with Celadon Trucking, who reported their GPS tracking of Kirby’s rig showed him at a nearby parking lot, with its motor off, at approximately the same time. Kirby denied having contact with the child victim. Celadon Trucking searched Kirby’s rig for the child victim on multiple occasions.

On June 25, 2018, law enforcement received information that the child victim was living with Kirby in Slater. She was located with Kirby, who was arrested, and placed into emergency foster care by the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division.

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 Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Slater, Mo., Police Department, the FBI and the State Technical Assistance Team.

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 12, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Childhood