Missouri man sentenced to 15 years for possession of child sexual abuse material following HSI Kansas City, partner investigation

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield man who possessed thousands of videos and photos of child sexual abuse was sentenced in federal court Oct. 17 for trading the material over the internet following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Springfield Police Department.

Craig Allen Rhoden, 55, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Rhoden to pay $150,000 in restitution to 30 victims and serve 15 years on supervised release following his incarceration. He must register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.

On April 18, Rhoden pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Rhoden’s residence on Jan. 5 after receiving CyberTip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children saying that Rhoden had uploaded hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material. Rhoden admitted that he participated in the exchange of child sexual abuse material, including trading images and videos of infant victims, and that he uploaded images of child sexual abuse to a website. Rhoden also admitted that he took “upskirt” photos of children at the Walmart where he was employed and uploaded those photos to a website he operated.

A forensic analysis of Rhoden’s electronic devices found more than 16,000 videos and photos of child sexual abuse.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. attorneys' offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about our mission to eradicate child predators in the community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HSIKansasCity.