JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a California, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to producing child pornography.

Timothy Lee Senkowski, Sr., 49, of California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey to the charge contained in a July 14, 2010, federal indictment.

According to today’s plea agreement, Senkowski turned over two computers to investigators with the California, Mo., Police Department. Investigators recovered numerous images of child pornography of a 12-year-old girl, as well as the beginning framework for the construction of a Web site that was intended to feature photographs of the child victim.

Co-defendant Priscilla Ramirez Flores, 40, of Clarksburg, Mo., pleaded guilty to the same charge on April 15, 2010. According to court documents, Flores told law enforcement officers that she was involved in taking some of the photos and had not objected to the photos being taken. Flores also told officers that she had begun the construction of the Web site.

Under federal statutes, Senkowski and Flores are each subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 30 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the State Technical Assistance Team, the Missouri Attorney General=s High Technology and Computer Crime Unit, the Moniteau County, Mo., Prosecutor=s Office, the California, Mo., Police Department, the Moniteau County, Mo., Sheriff=s Department, and the Missouri Division of Family Services.

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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