Former Camden County Deputy Indicted on Child Porn Charges

A former Camden County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges.

A federal indictment alleges that 39-year-old Leonard Jerome Wilson received child pornography between April 26, 2015, and July 17, 2017. Wilson is also charged with possessing child pornography on July 17, 2017. Wilson was employed as a sheriff’s deputy in Camden County at the time of the alleged offenses.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Wilson is in federal custody in South Carolina and will be transported to Missouri to face charges.

Press release from the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri (February 5, 2018)

Timothy A. Garrison, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former Camden County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges.

Leonard Jerome Wilson, 39, formerly of Camdenton, Mo., was charged in a two-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo., on Dec. 21, 2017. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Wilson’s arrest and initial court appearance in South Carolina. Wilson remains in federal custody and will be transported to the Western District of Missouri to face charges.

Wilson was employed as a Camden County sheriff’s deputy at the time of the alleged offenses.

The federal indictment alleges that Wilson received child pornography between April 26, 2015, and July 17, 2017. Wilson is also charged with possessing child pornography on July 17, 2017.

Garrison cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Camden County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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."