NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

NOVEMBER 16, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

COLUMBIA MAN INDICTED FOR

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for possessing and distributing child pornography.

Raymond Darrell Ford, 47, of Columbia, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City.

Today’s indictment alleges that Ford distributed child pornography over the Internet on June 20, 2007. The federal indictment also alleges that Ford was in possession of child pornography from at least as early as June 8, 2007, and continuing to Aug. 15, 2007.

Wood cautioned that the charges contained in the indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force, the Missouri State Technical Assistant Team and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

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