Cape Girardeau Man Pleads Guilty to Producing Child Pornography

United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today that a Cape County man pled guilty to production of child pornography.

GREGORY A. KOHL of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, entered a plea of guilty to one felony count of Production of Child Pornography. He appeared before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber on Wednesday, April 2, 2008, in Cape Girardeau.

Kohl now faces a maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, followed by a period of supervised release for life. Sentencing has been set for May 13, 2008, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

With his plea, Kohl admitted that in or about December 2006, he used a Polaroid camera and film to take photographs of a minor female. The minor was completely nude in the photographs and engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The Polaroid film was manufactured in Enschede, Holland and, therefore, traveled in and affected interstate and foreign commerce.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Hanaway commended the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, the Perryville Police Department, the Network Against Sexual Violence, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their combined efforts to prosecute this case. Assistant United States Attorney Abbie Crites-Leoni handled the prosecution for the Government.

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