A former police officer from Grain Valley, Missouri, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for child sexual exploitation offenses. U.S. District Judge D. Gregory Kays ordered that August Price Gildehaus, 30, of Blue Springs, Missouri, serve his sentence in the Bureau of Prisons and be subject to supervised release for life.
Gildehaus had previously pleaded guilty to one count of enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and one count of producing child pornography. He admitted to engaging in illegal sexual activity with a 15-year-old female victim whom he met through an online social media platform. According to court records, Gildehaus met the victim on five occasions between August 5, 2022, and January 5, 2023. The meetings took place at various locations including a middle school parking lot.
He also acknowledged that the victim took photographs of herself at home and sent them to him, while he sent her photographs of himself. Gildehaus further admitted to recording videos of their sexual encounters.
Upon his release from prison, Gildehaus will be required to register as a sex offender and comply with both federal and state registration requirements for life.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Brackett following investigations by the Grain Valley Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
“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,” according to information provided by authorities. “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.”
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri manages federal crime prosecutions across 66 counties from Iowa’s border down to Arkansas’s border with offices located in Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield. The office collaborates with multiple law enforcement partners at different levels (https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo). It also supports community outreach programs focused on issues such as violent crime prevention (https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo).
For more information about Project Safe Childhood or internet safety education resources visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
