SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., soldier has been sentenced in federal court for producing child pornography.

Lawrence Ellrick, 36, of Ft. Leonard Wood, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr on Thursday, June 21, 2012, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Ellrick to serve a lifetime of supervised release following his incarceration.

On Dec. 15, 2011, Ellrick pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of a child. Ellrick admitted that he used a minor (identified as AJane Doe@) to produce child pornography between Jan. 1 and May 31, 2010.

Ellrick forfeited to the government a computer hard drive, a laptop computer, a desktop computer and a digital camera, all of which were used to commit the offenses.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations and Army CID.

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."

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