Houston Lake Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Houston Lake, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to possessing child pornography.

Carlos J. Scott, 46, of Houston Lake, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to possessing child pornography.

According to today’s plea agreement, the investigation began when the victim, identified as “Jane Doe,” reported past sexual molestation by Scott to the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department on Sept. 4, 2011. In a later interview, Jane Doe stated that Scott sexually molested her from the time she was six years old until the age of 12. Jane Doe also stated that Scott left pornography open on the computer and that he had photographs of his penis on the computer, which he would leave in places he knew she would access while using the computer. She also reported that Scott regularly exposed himself to her.

A 12-year-old cousin of the child victim was also interviewed. She repeated Jane Doe’s statements about pornography being left open on Scott’s computer.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Scott’s residence and seized his laptop computer. They also seized a desktop computer from the home of Scott’s parents, where he had lived during most of the time that the sexual abuse of Jane Doe occurred. Scott had used the computer while living with his parents.

Among the files found on Scott’s computer were images of possible child pornography and erotica as well as multiple photos of young girls playing. Detectives showed Jane Doe several of the photographs; she became emotional and identified herself in the series of photographs. Child pornography and erotica also were located on the parent’s computer. According to today’s plea agreement, there were between 10 and 150 images of child pornography.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Scott is subject to a sentence of at least five years up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The government contends and will argue at sentencing that Scott engaged in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of a minor, which would increase his offense level under the federal sentencing guidelines. 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 Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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."