Lincoln County, Missouri Man Admits Child Pornography Charges

ST. LOUIS - A man from Lincoln County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted producing and receiving child sexual abuse material.

The investigation of Michael Anthony Lynch, now 24, began with a CyberTipline Report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that was triggered when three files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) were detected on one of Lynch's online accounts. A court-approved search of the account uncovered more CSAM, and a search of his home uncovered more CSAM and evidence that he had produced CSAM involving one underage girl.

Lynch pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 14. Both the U.S. Attorney's office and Lynch's lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 18 years in prison.

The St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted 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.