Show-Me State Times

U.S. District Judge John A. Ross has sentenced Antjuan Potts, a 27-year-old resident of Hazelwood, Missouri, to 24 years in prison for producing child pornography involving two victims. Potts pleaded guilty in August at the U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of sexually exploiting a child, admitting that his offenses occurred between 2019 and 2022.

The case began when the first victim reported to a detective from the St. Louis County Police Department in 2023 that she was 14 years old when she met Potts and engaged in sexual contact with him. Potts recorded these encounters and shared the videos with her via Snapchat on two occasions. The victim also mentioned that Potts was involved with another juvenile. During police interviews, Potts confessed to having sexual relations with both juveniles and recording them on his phone.

A sentencing memo detailed additional incidents involving Potts, including sexual intercourse with two other minors as part of a pattern of behavior involving the exploitation of minors. A 15-year-old reported being sexually assaulted by Potts in 2020, which he claimed was consensual. Another incident involved a 14-year-old who told police she was drugged and sexually assaulted by Potts in 2021.

“You have caused a tremendous amount of harm,” Judge Ross stated during sentencing, addressing the impact on the four victims.

The investigation was conducted by the St. Louis County Police Department, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project aims to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while also identifying and rescuing victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.