NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MARCH 19, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RETIRED SCHOOL TEACHER, CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER

PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a retired elementary school teacher with a prior sex conviction pleaded guilty in federal court today to possessing child pornography.

David R. Davies, 55, of Independence, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright this morning to the charge contained in an Aug. 19, 2008, federal indictment. Davies was an elementary school teacher in Brush, Colo. Davies, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in Colorado, had been placed on probation on June 20, 2007. Davies was living in Independence while on probation at the time of the federal offense. Davies remains in federal custody.

By pleading guilty today, Davies admitted that he was in possession of child pornography on Dec. 3, 2007. Independence police officers discovered more than 20 images of child pornography on Davies’ computer zip disks.

Under federal statutes, Davies is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. 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 Matt Hiller. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department.

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