Missouri man pleads guilty to producing child porn, enticing minor for sex

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A local man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to producing child pornography and enticing a minor for illicit sex. This guilty plea resulted from an investigation conducted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force; the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff's Department; and the Camden County, Mo., Sheriff's Department.

Adam Hammond, 22, of Climax Springs, Mo., pleaded guilty Nov. 3 before U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr to the charges contained in a Sept. 28 superseding indictment.

By pleading guilty, Hammond admitted to using a minor to produce child pornography between Oct. 31 and Dec. 29, 2010. Hammond also admitted to using the Internet and a cell phone to attempt to entice a minor to engage in illicit sex during that same time period.

Under federal statutes, Hammond is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, and up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

Asst. U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting 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.