Joplin man pleads guilty to child pornography charge, 36-year-old arrested after texting 12-year-old "girlfriend"

During a 12-minute hearing this morning in U. S. District Court in Springfield, a Joplin man pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography.

A federal grand jury indicted Michael Eden, 36, in 2016. Eden first came on the radar when authorities discovered he was texting a 12-year-old girl and referring to her as his "girlfriend."

The subsequent investigation uncovered the child pornography.

No date has been set for Eden's sentencing.