Bolivar Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Possessing Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Bolivar, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing child pornography.

Leland Wallace Crull, 44, of Bolivar, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Crull pleaded guilty on Feb. 3, 2014. The court also sentenced Crull to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following his prison term.

Law enforcement investigators with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force were investigating child pornography images and/or videos being shared on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network in April 2012. Crull’s computer was identified as sharing child pornography over the Internet. Officers executed a search warrant at Crull’s apartment on Aug. 9, 2012. He initially refused to answer the door and then attempted to exit the back of the residence, but was detained by law enforcement officers. Investigators seized Crull’s laptop computer, an external hard drive and his cellular phone, which contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force and the Polk 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."