Branson Man Sentenced for Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Branson, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography over the Internet.

Paul Young, 49, of Branson, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole.

On Feb. 3, 2015, Young pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Law enforcement officers who were conducting an investigation into the distribution of child pornography identified Young’s computer as sharing images of child pornography through a peer-to-peer, file-sharing network. Officers executed a search warrant at Young’s residence and seized two computers and three external hard drives, which contained child pornography.

Investigators discovered more than 600,000 images of child pornography and more than 13,000 videos of child pornography on Young’s computers and hard drives. He also possessed depictions of dead women and children in a folder titled “Necro.”

Young also faces state charges in Taney County Circuit Court for possession of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Taney County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Nixa, Mo., Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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."