Missouri Man Admits Child Pornography Charge, Sexual Contact with Teen

ST. LOUIS – A man from Overland, Missouri on Tuesday admitted possessing child sexual abuse material and engaging in sexual contact with a teen he’d met online.

James Donald Goings, 36, pleaded guilty to one felony count of receipt of child pornography. He admitted that investigators were alerted by CyberTipline Reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after Goings uploaded child sexual abuse material to a Google account. On July 21, 2022, St. Louis County Police Department officers conducted a court-approved search of Goings' house and recovered computer equipment. Investigators then learned that Goings traveled to Illinois and engaged in sexual contact with a 15-year-old that he met via Grindr and was in contact with another teen that he’d also met on Grindr, Goings’ plea says. The second victim told investigators that on multiple occasions he had video calls with Goings during which Goings directed him to perform specific sexual acts, the plea says.

Goings also possessed 2,500 images containing child sexual abuse material on a computer and 190 images in his Google account.

Going is scheduled to be sentenced in June. The charge is punishable by five to 20 years in prison. He has also agreed to forfeit cell phones, computer equipment and storage devices.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the Edwardsville (Illinois) Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman 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.