Missouri man sentenced to 20 years for producing child pornography following a joint ICE HSI, local law enforcement, investigation

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography and distributing those images over the internet, following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and local law enforcement.

Dennis Tyler Murray, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole.

On Oct 25, 2021, Murray pleaded guilty to one count of using a child to produce child pornography and one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.

On Sept. 29, 2020, law enforcement officers received three CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after Google discovered multiple images of child pornography in Murray’s account. Murray had distributed the pornographic images of a 6-year-old victim to another user through Google Hangouts.

On Oct. 1, 2020, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Murray’s residence. Murray admitted he used his cell phone to take sexually explicit images of the child victim. Murray also admitted he sent some of those images through Google Hangouts. Officers seized Murray’s cell phone, which contained pornographic images of the child victim.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

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 a directorate of ICE and 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 over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat child exploitation @HSIKansasCity.