Monday, April 06, 2015

Former owner of Oronogo restaurant, sports pub indicted on child porn charges

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

The owner of a now-closed Oronogo, Mo., restaurant has been indicted by a federal grand jury for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

Jerry Batchelor, 51, of Carthage, Mo., was charged in an indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on April 1, 2015. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Batchelor’s arrest and initial court appearance.

Batchelor was the owner of Benchwarmer’s Neighborhood Restaurant and Sports Pub in Oronogo. The federal indictment alleges that Batchelor received and distributed child pornography over the Internet between Aug. 10, 2012, and April 4, 2014.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.

No comments: