Missouri Man Sentenced to 80 Years in Prison for Recording Rape of Children

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a man who recorded his rape of a young girl and an infant to 80 years in prison. 

Mark Anthony Davis, 36, of Clark County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted recording his rape of the girl when she was under 10 years of age and an 11-month-old boy. Davis also admitted possessing videos containing child pornography, including the rape and torture of children. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Drake, in court, said prosecutors and investigators have never seen a worse case. Davis possessed images of children being tortured and then repeatedly inflicted “hideous torture” on his own children. Davis’ behavior, Drake said, “deserves the most serious sentence possible.”

The sentence of 30 years each on the production of child pornography charges and 20 years on the possession charge, run consecutively, was the maximum possible prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kirksville Police Department, the Henry County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and Donya Jackson, an investigator with the U.S. Attorney’s office at the time. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Drake and Robert Livergood prosecuted the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.