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.

Andrew Paul Dinsmore, 19, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Dinsmore to a life term of supervised release following incarceration, and ordered Dinsmore to pay $3,000 in restitution to a victim.

On Feb. 2, 2015, Dinsmore pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography between July 5 and Aug. 25, 2014. Law enforcement received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in August 2014 when an Internet site flagged suspected child pornography being uploaded. Investigators identified Dinsmore’s computer as sharing a video of child pornography over the Internet.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the FBI and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

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.”