Jasper County GOP chair, others vouch for former Sarcoxie Board member

Sixteen letters testifying to the good character of former Sarcoxie R-2 Board of Education member John Lewis were included in a sentencing memorandum filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Lewis' sentencing hearing on a charge of sexual exploitation of minors is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in federal court in Springfield before Judge Brian Wines.

Among those vouching for Lewis, who pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of minors, were Jasper County Republican Centrral Committee Chairman John Putnam and Sarcoxie Chamber of Commerce President William Gollhofer.

Lewis pleaded guilty January 15.

According to court documents, the defense says it has reached an agreement with the government to have Lewis sentenced to two years in prison.

The crime to which Lewis pleaded guilty was described in the plea agreement:

On October 4, 2012, a Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) Trooper initiated an investigation regarding John R. Lewis at the request of the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. After taking the initial
complaint, the Trooper interviewed witnesses.

On December 5, 2012, MSHP Troopers contacted Lewis at his residence located at 4360 Dandelion, Sarcoxie, Missouri. At the conclusion of an interview with Lewis, an MSHP Trooper asked Lewis for his consent to search his computers for any images of child pornography. Lewis stated he had images on his computer he did not want to be made public. Lewis stated he had two computers in his residence, a desktop and a laptop. When Lewis mentioned the desktop he pointed to a nearby office that was visible. Lewis stated he had downloaded images of naked children from a nudist website to his desktop computer. Lewis refused to give consent.

Based on the above information, the Troopers secured the residence and obtained a search warrant to search Lewis’s residence including the computers and all electronic storage devices. During a subsequent search an additional desktop computer was located in a basement bedroom along with multiple electronic storage devices. All computers and electronic storage devices were located inside the residence.

The computers and storage drives were submitted to the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force (SMCCTF) for analysis. The forensic examiner reviewed 19 multimedia files that he labeled as child pornography due to the activity depicted and 113 still images of suspected child pornography. The multimedia files and still images primarily depicted male children, with the youngest child being approximately 5 years of age, engaged in the display of genitalia, masturbation, oral sex, and anal intercourse.

These images travelled in interstate or foreign commerce via the internet.