Show-Me State Times

A St. Charles, Missouri man confessed on Friday to purchasing child sexual abuse material online. Charles Lionel McGilberry, 41, entered a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court in St. Louis for one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography. He acknowledged making two distinct purchases of child sexual abuse material on August 28, 2022.

Investigators subsequently discovered 768 videos and 29 images containing child pornography in McGilberry's Apple iCloud account, along with an additional 152 videos and two images on his mobile phone.

McGilberry is set to be sentenced on October 23. He is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for each offense, with each crime carrying a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman.

This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the increasing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Project Safe Childhood utilizes federal, state, and local resources to more effectively locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet while also identifying and rescuing victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.