JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Missouri, Western), published as received.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Jefferson City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the internet.
Dana Paul Cline, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 13 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Cline to pay a total of $31,000 in restitution to several of his victims.
On July 7, 2020, Cline pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. Cline’s later motion to withdraw his guilty plea was denied by the court.
The investigation began on May 24, 2018, when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper downloaded child pornography from Cline’s computer during an investigation into a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. On June 27, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Cline’s residence. Officers examined Cline’s laptop and found videos and images of child pornography. According to court documents, Cline was seeking out child pornography of a very disturbing nature. The videos and images he distributed and received depicted extremely young children engaged in horrendous sexual acts with adults.
According to court documents, Cline has a history of domestic violence, substance abuse, and a previous investigation of possession of child pornography. In 2011, Cline’s former landlord reported he found two flash drives in Cline’s apartment that contained child pornography. A forensic examination of the flash drives revealed one contained two child pornography videos and the second contained 17 child pornography videos. The second flash drive also had multiple documents stored on it with Cline’s name and/or images linked to him.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.
Project Safe Childhood
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 United States 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 www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
