Nixa man sentenced to 12 years, seven months on child pornography charge

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

A Nixa, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the internet.

Jeffrey Scott Seaton, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Seaton to 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.

On May 21, 2018, Seaton pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. Seaton admitted that he downloaded child pornography from the internet and traded child pornography via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.

Law enforcement officers identified Seaton’s computer during an undercover investigation and downloaded images and videos of child pornography from Seaton’s computer. Officers executed a search warrant at Seaton’s residence on Jan. 9, 2018, and seized a laptop computer, which contained images of child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Christian County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.