Joplin man indicted for using nine-year-old to produce child pornography

A Joplin man sexually violated a nine-year-old girl and recorded the act over at least a two-week period, according to an indictment handed down today by a federal grand jury.

Richard James York, 26, was already being held on charges of child molestation and statutory sodomy after a Jasper County Sheriff's Office investigation.

The probable cause statement in the Jasper County case says that between March 10 and March 13 York entered the child's bedroom and touched her both over and under her panties..

The nine-year-old told her story at the Joplin Child Advocacy Center, according to the statement.

A continued investigation by the Sheriff's Office and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force unearthed further information leading to the two-count indictment.

From the Department of Justice news release:

Today’s indictment alleges that York used a nine-year-old minor (identified as Jane Doe) to produce child pornography from March 1, 2017, to March 16, 2017. York is also charged with one count of receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

The federal charges also cover a longer period of time- "beginning at an unknown date, but as early as March 1, 2017, and continuing to March 16, 2017."