John Paul Sparapani, 29, of Springfield, Mo., has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a 12-year-old former student and using her to produce child pornography, federal prosecutors announced today. The private tutor admitted in U.S. District Court to preying on a child he was entrusted to educate, turning tutoring sessions into acts of abuse and coercion.
Sparapani pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of using a minor to produce child pornography. The charges stem from a series of predatory acts that began when the victim was just 10 years old. Under the guise of academic instruction in a private room at a public library, Sparapani sexually assaulted the girl and took explicit photographs of her with his cell phone, according to the plea agreement.
The case erupted in August 2017 when a 12-year-old student came forward and disclosed the abuse to her mother. The revelation came days after Sparapani pleaded guilty on August 16, 2017, to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet. Once the mother informed her daughter of Sparapani’s prior conviction, the child disclosed years of abuse during tutoring sessions, including being given candy and Pokemon cards as rewards.
Investigators with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force first identified Sparapani in May 2015 after his computer was found sharing child pornography on a peer-to-peer network. A December 2015 search of his Springfield residence yielded two laptops, three hard drives, and a cell phone loaded with illegal images and videos. That initial investigation led to the federal indictment—later withdrawn—before the broader abuse came to light.
On January 23, 2018, the court granted Sparapani’s motion to withdraw his prior guilty plea. The original charges will be dismissed in favor of the current count. Now, under federal statutes, Sparapani faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison without parole, with a maximum sentence of 30 years. The court will determine the final sentence following a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller and was investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Springfield Police Department. It falls under Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation. More information is available at www.usdoj.gov/psc.
Related Federal Cases
- Springfield Man Faces 15+ Years for Child Sex Exploitation · Missouri
- Vallejo Predator Jailed for 24 Years Over Child Sex Exploitation · Missouri
- Chase Trevor Norman Gets 16 Years for Child Sex Exploitation · Missouri
- Ricardo D. Minor Charged in Child Exploitation, Witness Tampering · Illinois
- Springfield Sex Offender Joshua Wood Gets 15 Years for Child Porn · Missouri
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
🔒 Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
Browse More
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Sex CrimesSex CrimesSex CrimesSex Crimes