Registered Sex Offender Admits Possessing Child Pornography

ST. LOUIS - A registered sex offender from Lake St. Louis, Missouri on Thursday admitted possessing child pornography.

Timothy Ray Dirck, 53, admitted possessing child sexual abuse material between Nov. 1, 2022, and May 3, 2023. Dirck was using peer-to-peer software that made that material available for download. On March 20, 2023, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent was able to download child sexual abuse material and traced the computer to Dirck's address. During a court-approved search of the home, Dirck admitted possessing images and videos containing child pornography on his laptop. The computer was actively downloading and uploading files consistent with child pornography at the time of the search.

Dirck pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to count of possession of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 20, 2025. Both sides have agreed to recommend a 10-year prison sentence.

Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Saint Charles County Police Department and the Lake Saint Louis Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman 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 www.justice.gov/psc.