A St. Louis man has admitted in federal court to moderating an online chat group dedicated to sharing child sexual abuse material.
David Korte Daues, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession of child pornography.
The case began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children submitted a Cyber Tipline report regarding child sexual abuse material on the messaging app Kik. Authorities traced the account involved to Daues. FBI special agents interviewed him at his workplace, where he acknowledged operating the account that led to the tip. According to officials, Daues also told agents he was a moderator for a group on the Wire platform that regularly posted child sexual abuse material.
Daues admitted he started viewing such content about four years ago and was active in approximately 25 Kik groups and five Wire groups distributing this material. He further acknowledged distributing images and videos within these groups and possessing them on two cell phones.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 1. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine as high as $250,000, or both.
The FBI conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuting the case.
“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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.”
