Neosho businessman's trial on child porn charge delayed until May

The child porn trial of Neosho businessman Blake Altman, originally scheduled to begin March 21, has been postponed until May 31, according to documents filed Thursday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Altman's lawyer, Dee Wampler, Springfield, asked for the delay to allow extra time to prepare an expert witness, according to the documents.

Altman, 31, the former manager of Sam's Cellar, was indicted by a federal grand jury June 16.

Altman is free on a personal recognizance bond, offer opposition from the U. S. Attorney's office, which noted that not only was Altman downloading child pornography, but he told investigators that "his preference was for girls between 10 and 14 years old."

Altman is being represented by Springfield attorney Dee Wampler.

The government made the following argument for keeping Altman behind bars while he awaits trial:

The defendant was utilizing peer-to-peer file sharing software to receive and distribute images and videos depicting child pornography. The imagery in question depicted children, some as young as infants, engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The defendant, at the time of the search warrant, possessed a rifle loaded with armor piercing bullets, two sets of body armor, and a Kevlar helmet.

The defendant was accused by a family member of inappropriately touching her when he was 16 years old. The accusation was never reported to the police. The defendant told the investigators that his preference was for girls between 10 and 14 years old. This case involves a minor victim..The evidence against the defendant is overwhelming

The indictment came more than eight months after a search warrant was executed on Altman's arrest, which was noted in the October 3, 2014 Turner Report:

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.