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

USA v. Childers

Jason L. Childers, 38, of Joplin, was charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that Childers received and distributed child pornography over the Internet on four separate occasions in October and December 2014. Childers is also charged with possessing child pornography on April 7, 2015.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Childers to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including a computer tower, two laptop computers, two cell phones and various digital storage media.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force, the FBI and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

USA v. Greinke

Michael Greinke, 27, of Springfield, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that Greinke received and distributed child pornography over the Internet between Jan. 1, 2014, and April 6, 2015.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force and the York Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges 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.”