Wildwood Man Sentenced to 52 Months for Possession of Child Pornography

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a former elementary school teaching assistant from Wildwood to 52 months in prison for possessing child pornography and a lifetime of supervised release.

Connor Brueggemann, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted that a May 4, 2020 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the uploading of child pornography triggered an investigation that resulted in a July 14, 2020 search of his house. During the search, Brueggemann, who was then a teaching assistant in a music class at a local elementary school, said “he had done ‘terrible things’ and wanted to get help with his addiction to child pornography,” his plea agreement says.

Investigators found over 360 media items containing child sexual abuse material on Brueggemann’s electronic devices, the plea agreement says.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins 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.