SPRINGFIELD, MO. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Missouri, Western), published as received.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo. man, who was caught with multiple images of child pornography and used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce obscene images of children, was convicted by a federal jury. 

Jeremy Koppenhaver, 46, was found guilty on June 2, 2026, of one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of production of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children. 

On June 22, 2024, the Springfield, Missouri Police Department responded to a coffee shop in downtown Springfield, after another customer reported that Koppenhaver, who was also at the coffee shop using their internet, was attempting to use AI to produce child pornography. The responding officers seized Koppenhaver’s laptop. Investigators conducted a forensic examination of the laptop and found multiple images of child pornography and multiple obscene images of children created by AI. All the images of child pornography depicted real children. 

The computer data from the obscene images showed that Koppenhaver was using an AI image generation website to depict female celebrities as minors who were being subjected to sexual abuse. Investigators also located images in which Koppenhaver used photo editing software to edit nude images of Koppenhaver into photographs that depicted nude girls. Data on the computer also demonstrated that Koppenhaver had multiple web searches looking for child pornography.    

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the United States District Court in Springfield    deliberated for approximately 50 minutes before returning guilty verdicts to United States District Court Judge Megan Blair Benton, ending a trial that began on   June 1, 2026. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie L. Wan and Randall Eggert. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Springfield, Missouri Police 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.”