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

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORMER YMCA CAMP EMPLOYEE INDICTED

FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former YMCA camp employee has been indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing child pornography.

Matthew O’Dell, 26, of Springfield, Mo., was charged in an indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Sept. 9, 2009. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon O’Dell’s arrest and initial court appearance. O’Dell was formerly employed at YMCA’s Camp Wakonda in Lawrence County, Mo.

The federal indictment alleges that O’Dell was in possession of child pornography on Aug. 4, 2009.

In a detention motion filed in federal court today, the government seeks to have O’Dell held in federal custody without bond. According to that motion, law enforcement officers located various computers belonging to O’Dell that contained child pornography. The officers also located video tapes containing recordings of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The recordings also contain O’Dell’s voice and other characteristics that identify the camera operator as O’Dell.

Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge 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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