Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A suburban Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court Friday to 10 years in prison for distributing child pornography via the internet.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Clark H. Henshaw, 37, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

On June 9, 2017, Henshaw pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography via the internet.

This HSI investigation began in July 2013 when federal agents contacted a man in Bangor, Maine, who was trading child pornography on a photo-sharing website. Henshaw was identified as one of his primary trading partners, to whom he had sent images and videos of him sexually abusing two 6- and 7-year-old boys. Each of those trading partners, he told federal agents, also claimed to have produced the child pornography they were sending to him.

Clark received 34 images of child pornography from his trading partner in Maine, including several images of him sexually molesting two prepubescent boys. Investigators learned that Henshaw sent two email messages to other individuals on Aug. 20, 2013, that contained some of those same child pornography images.

On Feb. 13, 2014, HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Henshaw’s residence. Henshaw and his mother were home during the execution of the search warrant. However, special agents had to force entry because they wouldn’t open the door. They seized Henshaw’s cellphone, which contained 10 child pornography movie file downloads.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore, Western District of Missouri.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page. HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.