Eric Hedman, Child Pornography Receipt and Distribution, Missouri 2023

Joplin Chiropractor Sentenced to 7 Years for Child Pornography

A Joplin, Mo., chiropractor is headed to prison for receiving and distributing child pornography, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Eric Hedman, 40, was sentenced in federal court to seven years in federal prison without parole.

Hedman, who operated his own practice at Hedman Chiropractic at the time of the offense, pleaded guilty on Dec. 14, 2023, to receiving and distributing child pornography. The court also sentenced Hedman to 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.

As part of his sentence, Hedman 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.

The investigation began in July 2022 when Kik, a messaging app, made two CyberTipline Reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The reports were forwarded to the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force for investigation. Investigators searched Hedman’s multiple Kik accounts and discovered 31 files that contained child pornography.

The images depicted children as young as two years old. Additionally, log files indicated that Hedman had transmitted child pornography to at least six other users on July 8 and 9, 2022. On Dec. 6, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hedman’s residence and seized his computer and cell phone.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force. Hedman’s actions are a stark reminder of the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The 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.’

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Sex Crimes

Jason Wayne Hines, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Maryland 2016

Apr 10, 2017

Sex Crimes

Carlos Cantizano, Distribution of Child Pornography, Arizona 2019

Oct 25, 2019

Sex Crimes

Waldo Patrick War Bonnett, Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, South Dakota 2014

Jun 22, 2015

Sex Crimes

Mark W. Wolfe, Child Porn Distribution, Ohio 2023

Jan 13, 2017