November 12, 2015

Springfield Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

SPRINGFIELD, MO—Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Jarod “Bull” Michel, 33, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Michel to pay a $5,000 fine and forfeit to the government a laptop computer that was used to commit the offense.

On June 5, 2015, Michel pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet between July 18, 2013, and May 20, 2014.

According to court documents, Michel’s computer was identified by two separate law enforcement agencies conducting independent undercover investigations concerning the distribution of child pornography using peer-to-peer file-sharing software. Investigators downloaded several videos of child pornography that were being shared over the Internet by Michel’s computer. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Michel’s residence and seized his laptop computer, which contained 21 videos of child pornography that depicted children as young as two years of age engaged in a variety of sexual acts with adults.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the FBI.

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.”