Missouri bus driver sentenced to 17 years for child sexual exploitation following HSI Kansas City, partner investigation

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield man was sentenced in federal court for taking sexually explicit photos of a young child and sharing the images in an internet chat group following a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Springfield Police Department and the FBI.

Gordon Wesley Roughton II, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 17 years in federal prison without parole on Oct. 12.

On Sept. 22, 2022, Roughton pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of a minor. At the time of his arrest, Roughton was employed as a seasonal bus driver for a children’s program for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, as he had been every summer from 2014 to 2019. Roughton also had been employed as a substitute teacher at schools in the Springfield area, and in the past had worked as a bus driver for Springfield Public School District and a Springfield Catholic school.

The investigation began on June 15, 2021, when a detective with the Springfield Police Department received a CyberTip report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. MeWe, a social media and social networking service, had discovered images of child sexual abuse uploaded by Roughton.

On June 16, 2021, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Roughton’s residence. Roughton admitted he had participated in a chat group on MeWe where the group members traded child sexual abuse material. Roughton explained that he had no images of child sexual abuse material to trade and needed some to remain in the chat. Roughton took photos of the child victim to trade in the chat group and uploaded them to MeWe.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller prosecuted the case.

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.

HSI is 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 more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about our mission to eradicate child predators in the community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HSIKansasCity.