Missouri man sentenced to 17½ years in federal prison for producing child pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A southwestern Missouri man was sentenced Wednesday to 17 ½ years in federal prison for producing child pornography.  

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force and the Springfield Police Department.

David Albert, 50, of Springfield, pleaded guilty March 11 to sexually exploiting a child to produce child pornography.

In October 2014, an HSI special agent in Portland, Maine, discovered a posting on an Internet chat service that offered “trading and sharing” of child pornography. The special agent identified Albert, who sent him a pornographic image of an 11-year-old girl, as the person responsible for posting the ad.

Authorities executed a search warrant at Albert’s residence Oct. 3, 2014. They seized a laptop computer that contained multiple images of child pornography and a cell phone, both of which have been forfeited to the government. Albert was not present in the home at the time the investigators executed the warrant, but was later located at his place of employment. He admitted that he had taken the photo of the 11-year-old victim with his cell phone.

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 12,000 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 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 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 and current chair 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.