Joplin man sentenced to seven years on child pornography charge

 A federal judge sentenced a Joplin man who possessed child pornography and molested a seven-year-old boy to seven years in prison on a child pornography charge during a hearing today in U. S. District Court in Springfield.

After his sentence is completed, David Pierce, 53, will be on supervised probation for 15 years.

Pierce used his status as the live-in friend of a Joplin babysitter to gain access to the children, according to the plea agreement.

The Joplin Police Department's investigation into allegations against Pierce began after a hotline call was made about a seven-year-old boy's inappropriate actions at school, according to the complaint.

Under questioning at the Children's Center, the boy said he had watched videos of sex and graphically described their content and that Pierce had showed them to him on his phone while the boy was at the babysitter's house, the complaint said.

The boy said "Dave" also touched him inappropriately.

The babysitter acknowledged that she took care of the boy, as well as another boy.

Pierce denied showing the boy pornography, but he said he let the seven-year-old use his phone to play games and watch YouTube videos.

When Detective Adam New asked Pierce if he had fondled the boy, Pierce "replied that he never intentionally touched (the boy) inappropriately."

Questioning of the second child indicated Pierce had shown that boy pornography, as well, according to the complaint.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators did a forensic examination of Pierce's phone and found 1,217 child pornography images, the complaint said.