Phelps County Man Pleads Guilty To Federal Pornography Charges

St. Louis , Missouri : Leonard J. Cook, Jr. pled guilty to federal charges of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway, Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney Courtney George and Rolla Police Chief Mark Kearse announced today.

“People who collect child pornography create a demand for these images,” said Hanaway. “This office, with the help of Prosecuting Attorney George and Chief Kearse, will continue to find and prosecute people who victimize children.”

Chief Kearse stated that this investigation began when Mr. Cook applied for a police officers position with his department and during the background investigation the RPD discovered the possible child pornography issues. “We then asked for assistance with the MSHP and (all the other agencies that got involved). I'm very happy with all the cooperation between the agencies that were involved to get to a guilty plea. It would have been very unfortunate to law enforcement if he would have made it through the process and became an officer. Also a special thanks to U.S. Attorney Hanaway for following up and prosecuting this case.”

“This kind of behavior is not tolerated in our community, and it absolutely will not be tolerated by law enforcement officers sworn to serve and protect our citizens,” added Prosecuting Attorney George.

On September 24, 2007, Leonard J. Cook, Jr. allowed law enforcement officers to seize his home laptop computer and hard drive. A forensic examination found child pornography stored within the computer hard drive, including within the Dell laptop computer. Some of these images depicted minors under the age of twelve engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and some involved material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.

LEONARD J. COOK, JR., Rolla, Missouri, pled guilty Wednesday to one felony count of possession of child pornography. He appeared today before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson. Cook now faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000, when he is sentenced on August 29, 2008.

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/.

Besides the Rolla Prosecuting Attorney and Police Department, Hanaway commended the work performed on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Regional Computer Crimes Education and Enforcement Group, and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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