NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

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

JANUARY 27, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHYSICAL TRAINER INDICTED FOR SECRETLY

VIDEOTAPING FEMALE TEENS

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES CARRY

15-YEAR MINIMUM PRISON SENTENCE

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former physical trainer at St. John’s Hospital has been indicted by a federal grand jury for producing child pornography by secretly videotaping minor females at the hospital’s training facility.

Scott Johnson, 29, of Springfield, Mo., was charged in a 10-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. That indictment was unsealed and made public following Johnson’s arrest and initial court appearance at the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. Johnson’s arraignment was held at the U.S. District Court in Springfield today.

Johnson was a physical trainer at Healthtracks, a training facility operated by St. John’s. The federal indictment alleges that, between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2007, Johnson created videos of three separate female victims, who were minors. Johnson allegedly videotaped the female victims without their knowledge or consent.

Under federal statutes, each of the alleged violations carries a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

Wood cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment 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.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

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