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

MARCH 20, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORMER WEST PLAINS TEACHER SENTENCED

FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former high school teacher in West Plains, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for possessing and receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Michael Wilson, 45, of West Plains, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this morning to five years in federal prison without parole.

On Sept. 15, 2008, Wilson pleaded guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography. Wilson admitted that he received child pornography over the Internet between April 8, 2005, to July 20, 2007, and that he stored those images on his computer.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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