Missouri Sex Offender Sentenced to 10 Years on New Child Pornography Charge

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a registered sex offender who was caught with child pornography to 10 years in prison.

James Darrick Beeler, 53, of Glenwood, Missouri, had more than 200 videos containing child sexual abuse material on a laptop and more than 200 videos on two thumb drives. On June 29, 2022, the Missouri State Highway Patrol discovered that someone was sharing two videos of child pornography on a peer-to-peer file sharing program. They traced the videos to Beeler's home. Beeler later admitted to investigators that he used his laptop to search for and download child sexual abuse material.

Beeler pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in May to one count of possession of child pornography. In 2007, he was convicted in Schuyler County of abuse of a child.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman 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 www.justice.gov/psc.