KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today on charges related to distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Andrew Shea, 46, of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to eight years and six months in federal prison without parole.

On March 10, 2011, Shea pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet, receiving child pornography over the Internet, and possessing child pornography.

According to court documents, law enforcement investigators found more than 30 videos and 40 still images of the sexual abuse of children on Shea’s computer, including an image of a prepubescent girl in a dog collar engaged in bestiality and some images depicting the sexual abuse of boys the same age as his son. Shea used a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to obtain his collection of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force.

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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