Joplin man indicted on child porn charge to be arraigned

A 9:30 a.m. August 5 arraignment has been scheduled for Frank Ness, Joplin, on child pornography charges.

Ness had been arraigned earlier, but the previous charges were overridden by a grand jury indictment that was issued Wednesday. Information from the search warrant served on Ness' home can be found at this link.

From the Department of Justice news release:

Frank Edwin Ness, 44, of Joplin, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Ness on July 17, 2014.

Today’s indictment alleges that Ness received and distributed child pornography over the Internet between Jan. 1, 2004, and July 16, 2014.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ness’s residence on July 16, 2014, and seized his desktop computer. Investigators found at least 124 videos containing child pornography when they previewed the computer, the affidavit says.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Ness to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including a desktop computer.