A Columbia resident was arrested by the Boone County Sheriff’s Department on June 10 on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
According to a news release by the Boone County Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task Force, in mid-February, a Task Force investigator discovered that a computer in the Columbia area was offering child pornography through the file sharing service Gnutella. The Task Force was able to trace the IP address of the computer to 47-year-old Joseph Kreiser.
Kreiser was charged with one count of possession of child pornography. He was arrested with bail set at $10,000. According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department 07:00 Report, he has not posted bail.
On March 2, a court-ordered search warrant took place at Kreiser’s address.
“During this search several items were seized,” the news release stated. “A subsequent examination of the items seized located over 60 images of pre-pubescent children. The investigation also identified the person to be responsible for the possession of these files.”
Detective Tracy Perkins is the lead detective on this case. She said Kreiser was arrested following a forensic investigation.
“If we’re able to obtain enough information during our search warrant, sometimes we’re able to arrest them on the scene,” Perkins said. “Sometimes we’re not able to do that, so then we have to take it back to our lab here at the Sheriff’s Department and use the analysis of those devices.”
Perkins said she is unsure about what the punishment will be if Kreiser is found guilty.
“Sometimes they get probation (and) they have to complete what they call a sex offender class, like a 120-day class,” she said. “Then sometimes people get years, they don’t even get that option. It varies.”
Perkins said that this is a common problem in Columbia.
“It happens all the time,” she said. “As the Cyber Crimes Unit, this is what we deal with every day.”
According to the news release, The Cyber Crimes Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, the MU Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
