Carthage businessman pleads guilty to child porn charge

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

A Carthage, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 Jerry Batchelor, 51, of Carthage, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to the charge contained in an April 1, 2015, federal indictment.

 By pleading guilty today, Batchelor admitted that he received and distributed child pornography over the Internet between Aug. 10, 2012, and April 4, 2014.

 Under federal statutes, Batchelor is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 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.

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The filing of charges against Batchelor, the former owner of Benchwarmers Neighborhood Restaurant and Sports Pub in Oronogo, was posted on the April 6, 2015 Turner Report:

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.