Missouri Sex Offender Caught with Child Pornography Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a sex offender caught with child sexual abuse material to 15 years in prison.

Cody Moore, 25, pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted using a Kik social media account to download, possess and distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The investigation began with a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a Kik account was used to upload 41 files containing CSAM in December of 2022. The upload was traced to a home in Audrain County where Moore was living, and the Boone County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force took over the investigation. At the same time, law enforcement in Audrain County was investigating Moore for failing to register as a sex offender. Moore had twice been convicted of failure to register, and he absconded from probation in April 2023. Moore was charged with failure to register, and an arrest warrant was issued.

On July 12, 2023, Moore was arrested in Jefferson County, Missouri. A court-approved search of his phone, social media and cloud accounts revealed dozens of files containing images of girls being sexually abused.

The FBI, the Boone County Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Audrain County Sheriff's Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.