May 14, 2015

Hollister, Republic Men Indicted for Producing Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Hollister, Mo., man and a Republic, Mo., man have been indicted by a federal grand jury, in separate and unrelated cases, for producing child pornography.

USA v. Tyson

Michael Shane Tyson, 30, of Hollister, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Tyson on April 24, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that Tyson used a minor, identified as Jane Doe, to produce child pornography from Jan. 30 to April 7, 2015.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Tyson to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including an Acer laptop computer and a Droid Razr Maxx cell phone.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI.

USA v. Hopper

Benjamin Michael Hopper, 22, of Republic, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that Hopper used a minor, identified as “Jane Doe #1,” to produce child pornography between Jan. 21 and 25, 2015.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI and the Republic, Mo., Police Department.

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in these indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

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.”