FBI traces child pornography to Neosho businessman's computer

Though no arrests have been filed anywhere at this point, a search warrant request filed in the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri indicates child pornography had been traced to an IP address belonging to a Neosho businessman.

The affidavit, written by Joplin police officer Charles Root, working with the FBI as a member of the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, detailed the reasons the search warrant was being requested:

 On August 14, 2014, Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force Officer James Smith conducted an undercover investigation into the distribution of child pornography. Utilizing an undercover computer, TFO Smith was able to make a direct connection with the target computer and browse the files available for sharing.

The target computer contained approximately 116 files believed to contain depictions of child pornography.

Smith was able to download 33 of the files, according to the affidavit:

Each of 33 files downloaded depicted minors, some as young as infants, engaged in sexual contact or posed in a sexually explicit manner. The imagery depicted minors engaging in such sexual acts as sexual intercourse and digital penetration of the minors' anus and vagina.

(Note: The Turner Report is withholding the name and address until and if charges are filed.)