Southeast Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A southeast Missouri man on Thursday admitted receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Justin Wade Welker, 40, pleaded guilty in U.S District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of receipt of child pornography. He admitted receiving and viewing child sex abuse material, including pictures and videos, on his phone.

The investigation began when the FBI office in Detroit alerted their counterparts in St. Louis that two people were discussing engaging in sex acts with a minor on the Kik messaging and chat app. The FBI had traced one of the participants to Welker's home in the village of Sedgewickville, in Bollinger County, Missouri. FBI agents approached Welker at work, and he admitted viewing child pornography via Kik.

Welker is scheduled to be sentenced November 12. The charge carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison.

The FBI and the Bollinger County Sheriff's Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter 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.