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

AUGUST 24, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

FORMER MAILHANDLER SENTENCED FOR

RECEIVING CHILD PORN IN THE MAIL

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Independence, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for receiving child pornography through the mail.

            Mark Anthony Mayfield, 52, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2007, to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole.

            Mayfield, who was employed as a mail handler, is the former administrative vice president for the Kansas City, Missouri branch of the Mail Handlers Union and at the time of the offense, acting Local Vice President. Mayfield pleaded guilty on Feb. 8, 2007, to receiving child pornography through the mail.

            As part of an undercover investigation, on Oct. 11, 2005, Mayfield received a letter and questionnaire from a company offering illegal videotapes for sale. Mayfield filled out the questionnaire, indicating his interest in several categories – including child pornography – and returned it in the mail.

            Mayfield later mailed another letter, enclosing $125 in cash and ordering several DVDs that were described as containing child pornography. Mayfield was arrested soon after the DVDs were delivered to his home on Dec. 15, 2005. During the execution of a search warrant immediately after the delivery, law enforcement officers found 440 images of child pornography in Mayfield’s briefcase. In a search of Mayfield’s home computer, officers found 150 images of child pornography along with six videos, including one movie of full sexual intercourse with a child apparently under the age of 12.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Pueblo County, Colo., Sheriff’s Department.

Project Safe Childhood

            This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched 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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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

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

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

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