BILLINGS - A Pryor man who had a video on his phone with sexually explicit material of a minor was sentenced today to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Melville Lee Stops, Jr., 23, pleaded guilty in June 2026 to receiving child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Child Sexual Abuse Material was discovered on Stops's cell phone in 2022. Stops was at a house party in June 2022 and left his phone behind when he left the gathering.

One of the partygoers found the device and on it discovered "videos of underage girls." She reported to law enforcement what she found. In December 2025, law enforcement served a search warrant on the phone and found the videos.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Hendricks prosecuted the case. The FBI conducted the investigation.

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 CEOS, 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 Justice.gov/PSC.