JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Boonville, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for using an 8-year-old minor at a local hotel to produce child pornography.

Matthew Lee Klopfenstine, 34, of Boonville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

On Dec. 8, 2011, Klopfenstine was found guilty of producing child pornography. Evidence during the trial indicated that Klopfenstine and two other adult men took sexually explicit photographs of the child victim while staying at a Booneville motel.

The investigation into Klopfenstine began when federal agents executed a search warrant at the Troy, Mo., home of Michael P. Martin, a friend of Klopfenstine, on Sept. 19, 2009. During the search of Martin's home, agents located a number of computer hard drives that contained numerous images of child erotica and child pornography, including pornographic images of the child victim. More than 130 photographs were taken at a Super 8 Motel in Booneville, and most depicted the victim. The photos also depicted Klopfenstine, Martin, and Jose C. Garcia of Chicago, Ill.

Martin and Garcia traveled to Booneville, accompanied by the child victim, to meet Klopfenstine on June 9, 2009. Martin rented the room using Garcia's credit card. Among the images recovered by federal agents at Martin's home were nude photos of the child victim and photos of the child victim in the hot tub with Martin. Some of the photos were taken by Klopfenstine. In several images, Klopfenstine is shown nude in the bathtub and is masturbating. Garcia and Klopfenstine were both involved in taking the photographs.

Martin and Garcia have been convicted of child exploitation offenses in separate cases in the Eastern District of Missouri and the Northern District of Illinois, respectively.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the FBI.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc  For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

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