Paul E. Durham, Child Pornography Distribution, Missouri 2013

A Boonville man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison without parole for attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet.

According to court documents, Paul E. Durham, 34, of Boonville, pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet on February 11, 2013.

The investigation began in December 2011, when a detective with the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force used an automated software program to browse and download suspected child pornography files through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.

Durham's computer was identified as having child pornography available to share online.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on February 2, 2012, at the home of Durham's mother, where he resided. They seized a laptop computer and an external hard drive.

During an examination of the contents of the computer media, examiners found at least 52 images of child pornography and 17 movies of child pornography.

The images and videos depicted prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts with adults, including one video depicting a young girl engaged in bestiality. Some of the material also depicted children engaged in sadistic or masochistic conduct.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff's Department, the Cooper County, Mo., Sheriff's Department, the FBI, and the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force.

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.

Prior, we told you about the Project Safe Childhood initiative in this article

The sentence was handed down by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan on Thursday, July 18, 2013.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/project-safe-childhood-31