Blue Springs Man Sentenced to 27 Years for Conspiracy to Produce Child Pornography

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Blue Springs, Mo., man who watched online as a 7-year-old girl was raped and sexually abused was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to produce child pornography.

Justin W. Hardin, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 27 years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Hardin to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

On Feb. 2, 2023, Hardin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography over the internet, one count of distributing child pornography over the internet, and one count of possessing child pornography.

According to court documents, investigators identified an individual who was posting photos and videos of his sexual abuse and rape of a 7-year-old girl online. Hardin engaged in numerous chats with this individual on Google Hangouts between Aug. 1 and Sept. 3, 2019. During the chats, Hardin viewed in real time the individual’s sexual abuse and rape of the child victim. In addition, Hardin asked the individual to write “Abbi Dillon” (Hardin’s online screen name) on the child’s body while the abuse was occurring.

On Sept. 11, 2019, law enforcement officers seized Hardin’s Apple iPhone. A forensic evaluation found evidence of the receipt and distribution of child pornography, as well as images of the sexual abuse of the 7-year-old victim.

The individual who sexually assaulted the child victim was sentenced in another jurisdiction to 25 years imprisonment for aggravated indecent liberties with a child and 155 months for rape, to be served consecutively.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Western Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.

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."