Former Cottey College professor arrested in Italy, extradited to U. S. on 2015 child porn charge

A former Cottey College professor who fled to Germany after being indicted on child pornography charges has been arrested in Italy and extradited to the United States.

A detention hearing has been scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in U. S. District Court in Springfield for Sylvio Mannel, 49, who had been the coordinator of Cottey College's environmental studies program.

The FBI launched the investigation into Mannel in 2014 after Keith Spencer, the director of administrative computing services at Cottey College, found child pornography on Mannel's computer during a maintenance check.

Spencer had located an unusual folder on Mannel's computer titled "XXX," which had a subfolder labeled "Teens." The folder included thousands of pornographic images.

That was not all Spencer found, according to the detention motion, which was filed today.

During his review, Spencer also observed several pornographic images of Mannel’s wife. At this point, Spencer stopped the process and notified Cottey College Administration Staff of his findings. 

From the detention motion:

 TFO Root contacted Mannel at his office with the assistance of Cathryn Pridal, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Dean of Faculty. The office door was shut so TFO Root knocked on the door. The door was answered by Mannel and TFO Root was introduced to him by Cathryn Pridal. 

TFO Root greeted Mannel and asked him if investigating agents could speak with him in the next office to which Mannel agreed. Mannel was told that he was not under arrest and was informed about the nature of the investigation. 

At approximately 4:22 p.m., Mannel was advised of his Miranda rights. Mannel advised he was a German citizen and was a permanent resident in the United States. He has been in the United States for the last ten years and is married to a United States citizen. 

During a search of Mannel’s office, agents noted Mannel’s primary Cottey College issued laptop computer was powered on and attempts were made to conduct a forensic preview of this laptop computer, described as a Dell laptop computer, model # P10E, serial # C31RHX1. 

During the forensic preview, two encrypted containers were discovered on the computer; however, they were both inaccessible due to the encryption being enabled. Due to the massive amount of data on this computer, it was decided to shut it down and examine it at a later date in the controlled environment of the Joplin Police Department Cyber Crimes Laboratory. 

Mannel’s Samsung cell phone was connected to his Cottey College issued laptop computer and was also seized. Pursuant to a federal search warrant, the seized items were examined forensically by TFO Larry Roller, who located files containing child pornography. 

An example of one of the files, is as follows: a video file, with a file title name ending in “xxxxxxxxxsex.mpg” is a 16 minute and 40 second video. The video depicts an adult male and a prepubescent minor female, a minor female child who has not yet attained puberty and is less than 12 years of age. (Editor's Note: The next sentences offered a graphic description of sex acts between adults and children). 

In relation to the history and characteristics of the defendant, the defendant is a German National and fled to Germany sometime after law enforcement contacted him regarding the child pornography investigation. 

On November 4, 2015, a warrant was issued by this Court for the arrest of the defendant after a grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging the defendant with receipt and distribution of child pornography. 

TFO Root attempted to locate the defendant to arrest him; however, TFO Root was unable to locate the defendant. TFO Root also requested assistance from the Department of Homeland Security for any information indicating the defendant had left the United States, but there was no record of the defendant leaving the United States. 

On June 30, 2016, TFO Root received an email from an attorney in Germany regarding the defendant’s outstanding charges. The letter indicated that the defendant had retained the firm regarding his outstanding charges in the Court and was living in Germany. 

TFO Root advised the attorney to have the defendant turn himself in to the U.S. Embassy; however, the defendant did not ever do so. Consequently, the Government requested that Interpol create a Red Notice and Provisional Arrest Warrant for the defendant. 

The defendant was arrested by German authorities on December 31, 2018, but he was not detained and released on January 2, 2019, pursuant to German laws on extradition of their citizens. 

On September 2, 2021, Italian authorities notified Interpol and the U.S. Embassy that the defendant was provisionally arrested in Limone sul Garda (Brescia), Italy, and he was being detained in Brescia pending extradition proceedings. 

On September 9, 2022, the defendant was returned back to the United States through extradition by Italy on the Court’s arrest warrant.