A Missouri man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross handed down the sentence on Thursday in St. Louis.
Cody Moore, 25, admitted in court that he used a Kik social media account to download, possess, and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM). He pleaded guilty in September to one count of receiving child pornography.
The investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a cyber tip that a Kik account had uploaded 41 files containing CSAM in December 2022. Authorities traced the upload to Moore’s residence in Audrain County, Missouri. The Boone County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force took over the case.
At the same time, local law enforcement was investigating Moore for failing to register as a sex offender. Moore had previously been convicted twice for failure to register and had absconded from probation in April 2023. An arrest warrant was issued after he was charged again with failure to register.
Moore was arrested on July 12, 2023, in Jefferson County, Missouri. A search of his phone and online accounts revealed dozens of files showing girls being sexually abused.
The FBI, Boone County ICAC Task Force, and Audrain County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes prosecuted it.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.”
