NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

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

MAY 15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

PLEASANT HOPE MAN INDICTED FOR

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

            SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Pleasant Hope, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing child pornography.

            Phillip M. Brumfield, 58, of Pleasant Hope, was charged in a single-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Thursday, May 14, 2009. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Brumfield’s arrest and initial court appearance this morning.

            The federal indictment alleges that Brumfield was in possession of child pornography on May 28, 2008. The indictment also contains a forfeiture provision, which would require Brumfield to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including four computes, eight computer floppy disks, 45 CDs and a VHS camcorder.

            Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge 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 Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Pleasant Hope, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to 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