SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Morrisville, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for distributing child pornography over the Internet.

John M. Davison, 30, of Morrisville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, to 27 years in federal prison without parole.

On July 8, 2011, Davison pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography over the Internet in April 2010.

This investigation began when a task force officer with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force was conducting a training operation at the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department. During the course of the training into how to conduct computer investigations into the distribution of child pornography, the officer noticed that a computer in Polk County was online offering images of child pornography. The officer downloaded video files from Davison’s computer, as well as additional files of child pornography during the course of the investigation. The computer was traced to the residence where Davison lived with his parents.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force and the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff’s 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.

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