KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Raytown, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to receive child pornography over the Internet.

Cole A. Larson, 31, of Raytown, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to seven years in federal prison without parole.

Larson, who pleaded guilty on Sept. 20, 2011, admitted that he used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to download images of child pornography and to make images of child pornography on his own computer available for sharing online. Larson also used another software program to download approximately 2,000 images of both adult and child pornography to his computer. Those images had been sent to him as “demo” material from someone who was creating a Web site.

Law enforcement officers found a pinhole camera at Larson’s residence. Larson said he glued the camera on his shoe to record “upskirt” shots with a digital video recorder that was strapped to his leg. Larson said he used the camera about 20 times in bars to capture images of adult women.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police 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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