Gladstone Man Sentenced for Receiving Child Pornography Over the Internet

KANSAS CITY, MO—Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Gladstone, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Calvin Anthony Lear, also known as Tony Lear, 41, of Gladstone, was sentenced by  U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey this afternoon to 78 months in federal prison without parole.

On March 25, 2009, a federal jury found Lear guilty of seven counts of receiving child pornography over the Internet and one count of possessing child pornography.

Evidence admitted during the trial indicated that Lear subscribed to Internet sites that offered images and videos of child pornography. One of those websites clearly advertised photos of prepubescent children, including babies, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Lear downloaded and viewed multiple videos containing child pornography from those Internet sites.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katharine Fincham and Matt Hiller. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gladstone, Mo., Department of Public Safety, the Suffolk County, N.Y., Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Project Safe Childhood

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.projectsafechildhood.gov.