Kansas City man sentenced for child pornography

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A local man was sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison on Wednesday for receiving child pornography. The sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Michael James Sheets, 45, of Kansas City, was sentenced Dec. 14 in the Western District of Missouri to 12 years and one month in federal prison without parole.

Sheets pleaded guilty March 9 to three counts of receiving child pornography over the Internet between July 2007 and January 2009. Sheets also pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography over the Internet, and one count of possessing child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham, Western District of Missouri, prosecuted the case.

The investigation is part of ICE's Operation Predator, a nationwide initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who sexually exploit children, and the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children using the Internet.

As part of Operation Predator, ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or via its online tip form. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.