NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

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

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

JUNE 10, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COLUMBIA MAN SENTENCED FOR CHILD PORN

            JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing child pornography over the Internet.

            James Lee Melvin, 58, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey this afternoon to five years in federal prison without parole.

            On Nov. 30, 2009, Melvin pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography. Melvin admitted that he downloaded child pornography over the Internet, and that he used a file-sharing program to distribute child pornography to others over the Internet. During a forensic examination of Melvin’s computer, investigators found nearly 300 images of child pornography.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force and the Missouri Department of Social Services, State Technical Assistance Team.

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