Government asks for 15-year sentence for Joplin man on child pornography charge

 

In a sentencing memorandum filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the government suggested a 15-year sentence for Robert E. Riggs, 46, Joplin, on a child pornography charge.

Given the defendant’s admitted sexual interest in children, his long-term involvement with child pornography, and the egregiousness of the offense, the Government respectfully suggests that the Court impose a sentence of 180-months’ imprisonment, followed by a life term of supervised release.

Riggs' sentencing memorandum was also filed today with his attorney asking for a 10-year sentence, saying that Riggs was a "victim of sexual abuse by multiple personalities spanning years" and that he had never received any mental health treatment.

Riggs' sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 27, in Springfield.

Riggs' crimes were detailed in the government's memorandum:

On February 24, 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) referred 21 Cybertipline Reports (CTR) to the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force (SWMCCTF) for further investigation. 

The CTRs were generated after 38 images depicting child pornography were discovered in a Dropbox user’s cloud storage folder on January 13, 2022. Dropbox promptly notified NCMEC of the discovery and identified the user as “Robbie Riggs.” 

The IP addresses used to access the account were also provided to NCMEC by Dropbox. Task Force Officer (TFO) Brian Martin reviewed the imagery submitted with the CTRs. 

Each of the 38 files depicted minors, some as young as five years old, engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including oral and anal sexual intercourse. 

On March 1, 2022, SWMCCTF TFO Chip Root obtained a warrant to search the Dropbox account in question from Jasper County, Missouri, Circuit Court Judge Dean Dankelson. Dropbox provided data responsive to the search warrant, which included over 100 images depicting child pornography. 

The materials provided by Dropbox also included an image of a billing statement addressed to ROBERT RIGGS at 1405 Katherine Avenue, Joplin, Missouri, a photograph of a prescription bottle with the name ROBERT RIGGS typed upon it along with his address, and several other images linking the Dropbox account to ROBERT RIGGS. 

On May 24, 2022, Chief United States Magistrate Judge David P. Rush authorized a search of 1405 Katherine Avenue, Joplin, Missouri, predicated upon the investigation detailed above. The warrant was executed the following day by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the SWMCCTF. 

ROBERT RIGGS was contacted by members of the search team as he exited the residence. RIGGS agreed to speak with the investigators and was escorted to TFO Root’s vehicle for the interview. RIGGS was advised of his Miranda rights and asked if he knew why the investigators were at his residence. RIGGS responded that it involved his internet activities, specifically child pornography. 

RIGGS volunteered that he had been involved with child pornography for many years. RIGGS further advised that he used his cellular telephone and laptop to access child pornography. 

RIGGS confessed that he had been using child pornography to masturbate since he was 18 years old and that he had last viewed child pornography earlier in the day. RIGGS admitted that he engaged with like-minded individuals through Telegram and had sent depictions of child pornography to other users of the application as well as engaging in discussions of sexually abusing children, including babies. 

RIGGS blamed his use of child pornography on his addiction to methamphetamine. During the course of the search, investigators recovered an HP laptop computer, two Dell desktop computers, two external hard drives, and multiple flash drives and SD cards. 

The devices were later forensically examined by TFO Larry Roller. The HP laptop computer and one of the two external hard drives were determined to contain over 2000 images and 2300 videos containing depictions of child pornography. 

The defendant’s cellular telephone, recovered from his bedroom, contained over 1300 images and over 700 videos depicting child pornography. A small quantity of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia was also seized from the defendant’s bedroom.