Joplin Man Sentenced to 50 Years for Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court for victimizing two children to produce child pornography.

Russell Myers, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Steven R. Bough on Tuesday, April 8, to 25 years for each of two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The court ordered the sentences to run consecutively for a total sentence of 50 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Myers to a lifetime term of supervised release following incarceration.

Myers will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.

On Sept. 26, 2024, Myers pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Myers admitted to using minor victims, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe” and “John Doe,” to produce child pornography from Jan. 1 to Feb. 20, 2024.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

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."