Ava Man Indicted for Producing Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Ava, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for producing child pornography.

Brett Corcoran, 25, of Ava, was charged in an indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Sept. 30, 2015. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Corcoran’s arrest and initial court appearance. Corcoran remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that Corcoran used a minor victim to produce child pornography between Jan. 1 and May 13, 2015.

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the St. Mary’s County, Maryland, Sheriff’s Department.

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."