Former Nixa school official sentenced for child pornography following joint HSI, law enforcement partner investigation
Posed online as teen girl to solicit 13-year-old victim to send sexually explicit photos
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former assistant principal at Nixa Junior High School in Nixa was sentenced in federal court today for soliciting sexually explicit photos from a 13-year-old victim by posing online as a teen girl following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and local law enforcement.
Colby Fronterhouse, 42, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 12 years in federal prison without parole.
On Aug. 19, 2021, Fronterhouse pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. Fronterhouse was employed as an assistant principal at the junior high school at the time of the offense; he was terminated on Feb. 8, 2021.
A Christian County Sheriff’s deputy was contacted by a 13-year-old child victim and his father in September 2020. The child victim, identified in court documents as “John Doe,” had been engaging in a series of text messages for approximately a week with Fronterhouse, who posed as a 14-year-old girl. Fronterhouse, posing as a 14-year-old, encouraged John Doe to transmit sexually explicit images of himself to Fronterhouse, made specific requests for poses or types of images, and had sexually explicit conversations with John Doe.
Investigators learned that the phone used by Fronterhouse was a burner phone number with a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) account, but they were able to trace the account to Fronterhouse. Officers executed a search warrant at Fronterhouse’s residence on Jan. 26, 2021, and he was arrested. Investigators seized Fronterhouse’s cell phone and found evidence linking his cell phone to the burner account. Investigators confirmed that Fronterhouse had access to the child victim’s cell phone number through school records.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by HSI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, and the Christian County Sheriff’s Department.
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 and Internet safety education, please visit usdoj.gov/psc.
HSI’s Project iGuardian is focused on keeping children and teens safe from online predators through education and awareness. The project is an outreach effort to share information about the dangers of online environments, how to stay safe online, and how to report abuse and suspicious activity. In addition, the iGuardians team helps keep kids stay safe online by providing safety tips, a number to call, and a website with links to more information and resources. Project iGuardian helps kids, teens and parents be smarter about online safety and stay safe from online sexual predators.
To request an iGuardian presentation at your school or organization, email iguardian@ice.dhs.gov. To report a crime, call 866-347-2423 (TTY for hearing impaired: 802-872-6196) or visit the ICE Tip Line.
Learn more about our child exploitation mission in your community @HSIKansasCity.
HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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