St. Louis Man Admits Producing Child Sexual Abuse Materials Involving Multiple Victims

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Wednesday admitted producing child pornography involving at least eight victims.

Tracy Jenkins, 59, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted sexually abusing five children and recording the abuse. The series of videos have been circulating online since at least 2022. At this point in the investigation, three other victims have also been identified, Jenkins’ plea agreement says.

One of the victims was 6 years old when the abuse began and another was 11. Jenkins provided food, money, clothing and other items of value to some of the victims. Jenkins’ face is clearly visible in many of the videos he produced.

After the FBI’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit was able to determine the identity of one of the victims, they contacted the St. Louis FBI office. Agents quickly located Jenkins and conducted a court-approved search of his home, finding multiple electronic devices with thousands of files containing child pornography. They also located about 200 videos that Jenkins produced of his sexual abuse of the victims in this case, ranging in length from seconds to over one hour and 45 minutes, the plea agreement says.

Jenkins began making videos at least as early as 2013. He was present with one victim the day before the FBI searched his home.

FBI agents also found a Sarsilmaz 9mm pistol in Jenkins’ home. The gun had been stolen in St. Louis County. Jenkins is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing firearms. 

Jenkins is scheduled to be sentenced in December. At sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson will ask for a sentence of 40 years, the plea agreement says.

The FBI investigated the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.