Federal grand jury indicts Joplin man for sexual exploitation of three children

A federal grand jury has indicted a Joplin man on three counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of sending depictions of minors engaged in sexual contact through the mail and online.

The initial appearance for David Alan Giffen, 56, was held today in U. S. District Court in Springfield with a federal public defender appointed to represent him.

The indictment indicates Giffen induced three teen age girls into engaging in sexual contact.

At the time of his indictment, Giffen was already in the Jasper County Jail awaiting trial on a statutory sodomy charge.

According to the probable cause statement, Giffen digitally penetrated an underage girl in 2010 in Carterville when he was 49 years old.