Jefferson County Man Admits Producing, Distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material

ST. LOUIS – A man from DeSoto, Missouri on Thursday pleaded guilty to child pornography charges involving three victims.

Dylan James, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography. He admitted recording a sexual act with a 13-year-old in 2024 and then distributing that recording.

Investigators later discovered evidence of two more victims on James’ phone. The second victim, who was 15, told investigators that James gave her alcohol and “possibly some vapes” in exchange for sexually explicit images. The third victim was 16 when James watched a livestream of her engaging in sex acts with her boyfriend. He later paid her for additional videos, James’ plea agreement says.

James is scheduled to be sentenced on December 2. The production charge carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years. The distribution charge carries a potential penalty of 5 to 20 years.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.