Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Child Porn

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man has pleaded guilty in federal court to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

James Lucas Angotti, 33, of Springfield, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Monday, Oct. 3,2016, to a federal information that charges him with receiving and distributing child pornography.

By pleading guilty, Angotti admitted that he received and distributed child pornography through the use of the Internet. On Jan. 3, 2014, Angotti gave an undercover FBI agent access to his folder, on a peer-to-peer website, that contained multiple images of child pornography, of a child approximately 8-10 years of age, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

On Oct. 3, 2014, a federal search warrant was served at Angotti’s residence, where agents located a computer containing multiple images and videos of child pornography. Agents also recovered Internet chat logs between Angotti and various other individuals discussing minors in a sexual manner.

Under federal statutes, Angotti is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, and up to a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

Press release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri