Sex Offender Sentenced to 15 Years for Child Porn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Grandview, Mo., man who is a convicted sex offender was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Robert E. Shepherd, 41, of Grandview, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

Shepherd, who pleaded guilty on May 15, 2013, was on state parole at the time of the federal offense after being convicted on state charges of statutory rape and statutory sodomy in Cass County in 2000 and of statutory sodomy in Clay County in 1999. He absconded from state parole during the federal criminal investigation and was a fugitive from justice for almost four years. Shepherd was arrested at the Mexican border and his parole revoked in December 2011, for which he served a year in state prison before being indicted and taken into federal custody.

Shepherd brought his computer to a computer repair facility in April 2008. Approximately a week later, a technician at the facility discovered at least one image of child pornography on the computer. The technician notified law enforcement officers, who retrieved the computer and obtained a search warrant for Shepherd’s residence. Officers seized additional computers and electronic media at Shepherd’s residence. Two videos of child pornography were discovered on the computers.

This case was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Grandview, Mo., Police Department and the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police 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."