St. Louis County Man Admits Seeking Nude Pictures from Children Online

ST. LOUIS - A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted soliciting nude images of children that he'd approached online, and receiving images of one 12-year-old victim.

Alsaphone Hunt, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of distribution of child pornography.

Hunt initiated communications with an 8-year-old girl in Maryland via Facebook Messenger in February of 2021. After an initial exchange of messages, the girl's mother took over the phone. Hunt asked if the girl wanted to "see something that you like to see on a boy." He asked to see her genitals, and then sent a photo of his. The mother stopped responding and contacted local police after Hunt sent images containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Police officers identified Hunt and forwarded their findings to the St. Louis County Police Department.

On March 1, 2021, a St. Louis County Police Department detective pretending to be a 10-year-old girl "friended" Hunt on Facebook. Hunt then contacted the detective via Facebook Messenger. Hunt became increasingly sexually explicit and sent CSAM and photos of male genitals. On March 5, 2021, police arrested Hunt at the fast-food restaurant where he worked. He admitted sending CSAM and a picture of his genitals and allowed investigators to search the phone he'd been using to communicate with the 8-year-old and the detective.

A search of the phone revealed the presence of 65 video files and 165 image files containing CSAM as well as 55 image files containing child erotica. Investigators also learned that Hunt had coerced or enticed a 12-year-old into sending him CSAM that she produced.

Hunt is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. Both the U.S. Attorney's office and Hunt's lawyers have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Police, the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.