Show-Me State Times

A man from the unincorporated community of Patterson, in Wayne County, Missouri, admitted on Tuesday to producing images and videos containing child sexual abuse material for years.

Kevin D. Carroll, 59, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. He admitted to producing child sexual abuse material by taking pictures and videos of a child starting when the victim was 8 years old. Carroll stated he took pictures and videos for about four years. An investigation began when deputies with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department were called to Carroll’s home for a domestic dispute and seized electronic devices containing the child sexual abuse material.

As part of the plea, both sides will recommend 25 years in prison at Carroll’s sentencing, which is scheduled for December 11.

The FBI and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter is 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.