NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

APRIL 1, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

POLO MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO USING A CHILD

TO PRODUCE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

FACES AT LEAST 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR THOUSANDS

OF IMAGES, VIDEOS OF CHILD PORN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Polo, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to using a child to produce child pornography and to receiving and possessing child pornography.

Terry R. Ingerson, 45, of Polo, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs this morning to the charges contained in a May 20, 2009, federal indictment.

The federal investigation began when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Jersey learned that Ingerson had purchased a subscription to “Pedo Heaven,” a child pornography Web site that provided access to images and videos of child pornography in exchange for a monthly fee of $79.99.

Investigators seized a Dell computer and a CD-ROM from Ingerson’s home and conducted a forensic examination. The computer contained 1,574 images of child pornography and 396 videos of child pornography. The CD-ROM contained 21 images of child pornography and 25 videos of child pornography.

Among the child pornography found on Ingerson’s computer were 11 images and five movie files of child pornography that depicted a child victim, whom Ingerson covertly videotaped while she was nude and in partial states of undress.

By pleading guilty today, Ingerson also agreed to forfeit to the government the computer he used to commit the offense.

Under federal statutes, Ingerson is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to 30 years in federal prison, for using a child to produce child pornography. He is also subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to 20 years in federal prison, for receiving child pornography over the Internet. Ingerson is also subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole on each of the two convictions of possessing child pornography. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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