Taney County couple sentenced for sexually assaulting children, child pornography

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

A Merriam Village, Missouri, couple was sentenced in federal court today for sexually assaulting two young children to produce child pornography, and for receiving and distributing child pornography.

Mark John Millman, 37, a citizen of Great Britain and a legal alien resident, and his wife and co-defendant, Tara Sau Millman, 42, were sentenced in separate hearings before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Mark and Tara Millman each were sentenced to 35 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced them to spend the rest of their lives on supervised release following incarceration.

Both Millmans pleaded guilty to one count of the sexual exploitation of minors and one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. Both Mark and Tara Millman have been in federal custody since their arrest and have been detained without bail.

The Millmans admitted that Mark used Tara’s iPhone to record video of her performing a sexual act on a 2-year-old child, identified in court documents as John Doe. Mark Millman admitted that he sexually assaulted a 4-year-old child victim, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, which was also recorded on video. Investigators found images and videos of child pornography on the Millmans’ iPhones, including files that depicted the Millmans sexually assaulting both child victims.

Mark and Tara Millman each admitted they used a social media application to share child pornography over the internet, and that they viewed child pornography together.

The investigation began when agents with Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, California, began investigating users of a cloud storage platform (identified in court documents as “Cloud Platform A”). 

The cloud platform provides encrypted, cloud-based services that enable private, secure online storage, communication, and collaboration for business and individuals. 

During the investigation, the agents accessed a weblink to an encrypted chat room with approximately 145 registered users. Files containing child pornography were uploaded/posted by participants in the chat room. Many users were actively involved in the distribution of child pornography. The child pornography distributed within the chat included 129 video files, 324 image files, and 43 cloud-storage weblinks which contained files of child pornography.

Mark Millman’s email was identified among the registered users of the chat room, and a search warrant was executed at the Millmans’ residence in Taney County, Mo., on Jan. 28, 2021.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.