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Press Release

KC Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography Over the Internet

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Missouri, man who possessed an extensive collection of thousands of images and videos of child pornography pleaded guilty in federal court today to sharing child pornography over the internet.

Philip A. Kocher, 40, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of distributing child pornography over the internet.

Law enforcement officers identified Kocher sharing child pornography on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network in August and December 2020.

On Jan. 22, 2021, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Kocher’s residence and seized a desktop computer and three hard drives, all of which contained child pornography. Investigators found roughly 3,800 files of child exploitive or child abuse images. More than 1,200 of those files were child pornography, which included depictions of infants, toddlers, bondage, and bestiality. Investigators also found an additional 17,000 files, much of which included child pornography.

Kocher admitted that he has been involved with child pornography for at least the past 15 years. He also admitted he had another collection of child pornography that was accidentally deleted a few years ago.

Under federal statutes, Kocher is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth W. Borgnino. It was investigated by the FBI.

 

 

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."

Updated March 18, 2022

Topic
Project Safe Childhood