Two Southern Missouri Men Indicted for Child Porn

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two southern Missouri men were indicted by a federal grand jury today in separate and unrelated cases related to child pornography.

Both of the indictments were returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo.

USA v. Darst

Dustin L. Darst, 25, of Lebanon, Mo., was charged with one count of possessing child pornography on Aug. 13, 2014.

Today’s indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Darst to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including two desktop computers, a laptop computer, two hard drives, two iPhones, two USB drives and two SD cards.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Laclede County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and the Camden County, Mo., Prosecutor’s Office.

USA v. Sartin

David Dean Sartin, 47, of Lockwood, Mo., was charged with one count of possessing child pornography on Feb. 4, 2015.

Today’s indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Sartin to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including an LG smart phone and a Nokia smart phone.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Cassville, Mo., Police Department, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Barry County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.

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."