Climax Springs Man Indicted for Enticing
A Minor for Sex, Receiving Child Porn
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Climax Springs, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for enticing a minor for illicit sex and for receiving child pornography.
Adam Hammond, 22, of Climax Springs, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield.
Today’s indictment alleges that, between Oct. 31 and Dec. 29, 2010, Hammond used the Internet and a cell phone to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illicit sex. Hammond is also charged with one count of receiving child pornography during the same time period. The indictment also contains a forfeiture count, which would require Hammond to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including a cell phone.
Phillips 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 Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Camden County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations.
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.
