project safe childhood
maine man indicted for distributing child porn
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Lewiston, Maine, man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for distributing child pornography over the Internet and attempting to transfer obscenity to a minor.
Steven W. Hall, 53, of Lewiston, was charged in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo.
Today’s indictment alleges that Hall distributed child pornography over the Internet from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5, 2010. Hall is also charged with three counts of attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor under the age of 16 on three separate occasions between Dec. 30, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010. The offenses allegedly occurred in Laclede County, Mo.
The federal indictment also contains forfeiture allegations, which would require Hall to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including a desktop computer.
Phillips 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 Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Lebanon, Mo., Police Department and the Maine State Police.
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.
