Pennsylvania man pleads guilty for receiving child pornography

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark accepted a plea of guilty from Dallas Crawford on yesterday’s date for receiving child pornography.  A grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri previously indicted Crawford in September 2020.  Sentencing is scheduled for April 14, 2022. 

According to the plea agreement, on October 12, 2018, the FBI was contacted by the father of a twelve-year-old minor who had recently been in contact with a person he believed to be an adult via the Snapchat social media application. The parents became aware of the relationship while reviewing the victim's electronic devices.  The father believed that pornographic images had been sent via the Snapchat social media platform.

Agents identified Crawford as the user of the account and a search warrant was obtained and served on Crawford's home in Pennsylvania on April 24, 2019.  Several electronic devices were seized from Crawford.  A subsequent search revealed files of child pornography.  In addition, Crawford received images and videos of child pornography over the internet. Specifically, via social media applications like Snapchat. 

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.