ST. LOUIS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.

ST. LOUIS – A Lincoln County, Missouri man who took sexual photos of three young boys was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison.

Jeremy J.W. Crouch, 43, used a hidden camera to record three boys about a decade ago and took photos of one while he was sleeping in just his underwear. The victims were between the ages of 8 and 11 at the time. He possessed a total of at least 4,093 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The investigation began on March 27, 2025, when the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force was assigned a tip about CSAM that had been detected in Crouch’s Verizon account. Investigators sought a warrant for Crouch’s account and arrested him when they received data showing CSAM in the account. A court-approved search of his home uncovered handwritten notes detailing his encounters with the victims, as well as electronic devices and DVDs that contained CSAM.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the relative of one victim described Crouch as a “master manipulator” who “had so many people fooled.”

Crouch pleaded guilty in July in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of production of child pornography.

The FBI, the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

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