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

JULY 10, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

FORMER NORTHLAND CEO PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORN

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the former CEO of a North Kansas City, Mo., company pleaded guilty in federal court today to attempting to possess child pornography.

             Ronald Earl Elmquist, 63, of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith this afternoon to the charge contained in a Dec. 12, 2008, superseding indictment. Elmquist was the CEO of QualServ Corp., a North Kansas City company, until November 2006.

             By pleading guilty today, Elmquist admitted that from March 1 to April 19, 2006, he attempted to possess child pornography. During that time, a total of 43 images and one video containing child pornography were sent to Elmquist’s computer as attachments to a series of e-mails.

             A QualServ employee contacted police officers on July 11, 2006, when he discovered images of child pornography while working on Elmquist’s work laptop computer. Elmquist had requested the employee, a computer technician, to reformat his computer due to pop-up ads and spyware. During a forensic examination of Elmquist’s computer, investigators found numerous photos of child pornography.

            Under federal statutes, Elmquist is subject to a sentence of up to 10 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 First Assistant U.S. Attorney Roseann A. Ketchmark and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia L. Cordes. It was investigated by the North Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.