Missouri man pleads guilty to producing child pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A southwestern Missouri man, who contacted a child victim on Facebook, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to producing child pornography.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Jasper County (Missouri) Sheriff’s Department.

Ian Holman, 33, of Jasper County, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in an Oct. 1, 2013, federal indictment.

According to court documents, law enforcement authorities received reports regarding two minors that Holman contacted via Facebook. One of the minors, identified as Jane Doe, a 13-year-old from Carthage, Missouri, told officers that Holman (using the screen name “Lucky Holman”) offered to pay her $75,000 to $100,000. He also asked her to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself, which she did.

On Sept. 11, 2013, after receiving the report from Jane Doe, a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Holman’s residence. Holman attempted to elude the deputy by running out the back of the house and into the woods. The deputy, along with two other officers and a K-9 unit, pursued Holman into the woods. The officers searched for Holman for about 45 minutes. The deputy was able to contact Holman by phone and persuade him to turn himself in.

Holman told officers that he friended numerous 12-to-14-year-old girls in the Carthage and Webb City, Missouri area and used Facebook instant messaging to contact the girls.

Under federal statutes, Holman is subject to a sentence of 15 to 30 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.