Liberal man sentenced to seven years in prison for child pornography

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Liberal, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the Internet.

Matthew W. Splitter, 25, of Liberal, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to seven years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Splitter to pay $2,000 in restitution to one of the victims portrayed in the child pornography images.

On March 11, 2014, Splitter pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography over the Internet.

According to court documents, an officer with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force identified Splitter’s computer as distributing and receiving child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. A search warrant was executed at Splitter’s residence on Oct. 5, 2011, and his computer was seized. A forensic examination of the computer revealed 62 videos of child pornography and 493 images of child pornography. The images involved a child as young as 1 to 2 years of age. Court documents describe a large number of “hideous and violent” images that involve young children being raped by adults, bondage and animals.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan. It was investigated by Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.