Branson, Springfield Men Indicted for Child Sexual Exploitation

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Branson, Mo., man and a Springfield, Mo., man were indicted by a federal grand jury today in separate and unrelated cases related to the sexual exploitation of minors.

USA v. Adams

Samuel Lynn Adams, 28, of Branson, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Adams on Sept. 1, 2016, which charged him with the same offense.

The federal indictment alleges that Adams received and distributed child pornography from Jan. 1 through July 21, 2016.

According to an affidavit filed in support or the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officials received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on March 4, 2016, regarding a video file of suspected child pornography posted on Adams’s Gmail account.

On July 21, 2016, Branson police officers were contacted by Motel 9, an extended stay motel where Adams had been residing. According to the owner of the motel, a housekeeper found an SD memory card that contained suspected child pornography while cleaning the room vacated by Adams earlier that day.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Branson, Mo., Police Department.

USA v. Dunn

Mark Damon Dunn, 30, of Springfield, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield.

Today’s indictment alleges that Dunn used the Internet and a cell phone to attempt to persuade, induce and entice a minor victim (less than 17 years of age) to engage in illicit sexual activity from June 1, 2016, to July 13, 2016.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in these indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

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."