Springfield Man Indicted for Producing Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Springfield, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for using a minor to produce child pornography.

Tyler Coons, 23, of Springfield, was charged in a two-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. The indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Coons’s arrest and initial court appearance.

The federal indictment alleges that Coons used a minor, identified as “Jane Doe #1,” to produce child pornography between Jan. 1 and June 20, 2014. Coons is also charged with one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this 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 James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."