Columbia Man Indicted for Producing, Distributing Child Pornography

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Columbia, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for a scheme to produce and distribute child pornography involving six child victims.

Ryan Edward Hine, 27, was charged in a seven-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo. Today’s superseding indictment replaces the original indictment that was returned on March 7, 2023, and includes additional charges.

Hine has been detained in federal custody without bond since his arrest on a federal criminal complaint on Feb. 7, 2023.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Hine began texting with a 15-year-old female in Mississippi in July 2018. Hine regularly requested her to produce and send to him sexually explicit images and videos. Hine allegedly traveled to Mississippi on a monthly basis in 2019 to engage in sexual acts with the child victim, which he recorded with his cell phone to produce videos of child sexual abuse.

Hine advertised the child sexual abuse material to buyers on multiple chat communication services, says the affidavit, posing as the child victim while engaging the buyers. This continued through 2020.

In the fall of 2021, Hine allegedly sent videos that depicted himself and the child victim engaging in sexual acts to a second minor female victim, in order to recruit her to produce videos. Hine paid for child pornography videos produced by the second minor female and a minor male victim. According to the affidavit, the videos produced by these two minor victims were then sold and distributed.

Today’s indictment charges Hine with one count of attempting to entice a minor, identified in court documents as “MV1,” to engage in criminal sexual activity in order to produce child pornography. Hine is charged with three counts of attempting to use a minor, identified in court documents as “MV5,” to produce child pornography. Hine is charged with two counts of advertising child pornography, including videos that depicted three child victims, identified in court documents as “MV2,” “MV3,” and “MV4,” to two separate buyers. Hine is charged with one count of receiving child pornography, including an image of a child victim identified in court documents as “MV6.”

The charges contained in this indictment 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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Newark, N.J., office with assistance from the St. Louis, Mo., office.

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."