Missouri Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender on Monday admitted being caught with child pornography.

David Earl Dey, 38, of Randolph County, Missouri near Moberly, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

The investigation began in August of 2022, when the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Dey was in possession of child sexual abuse material that he stored on flash drives. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office also received a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Dey had uploaded child pornography. Dey is a registered sex offender, having been convicted in 2008 of first-degree statutory sodomy, first-degree child molestation and sexual misconduct involving a child. 

Dey denied owning flash drives or computers, but a court-approved search of his home found a cell phone and two hidden laptops. The electronic devices contained 102 videos and 764 images containing child pornography, many showing the sexual abuse of toddlers, Dey’s plea agreement says. About 4,000 more files containing “child erotica” were also found.

Dey is scheduled to be sentenced May 1. Both sides have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison.

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman is prosecuting 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.