Springfield Man Sentenced to 12 Years for Child Pornography

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for downloading and distributing hundreds of images and videos of child pornography over the internet.

Rusty J. Rose, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Rose to 15 years of supervised release following incarceration, and ordered him to pay $12,000 in restitution to his victims.

On Nov. 20, 2019, Rose pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography.

On July 24, 2018, law enforcement received a Cybertipline Report of a video of child pornography uploaded to Rose’s Google account. While officers were investigating the report, Rose assaulted a 14-year-old girl by grabbing her buttocks in a Kum & Go gas station in Springfield on Aug. 13, 2018.

On Sept. 27, 2018, law enforcement received another Cybertipline Report of images of child pornography uploaded to Rose’s Tumblr account. On the same day, law enforcement received additional Cybertipline Reports of child pornography videos uploaded to Rose’s Sendvid account and distributed to other users.

On Nov. 21, 2018, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Rose’s residence. Officers seized Rose’s cell phone and a Samsung tablet they found under the sink in the bathroom. During a forensic examination of Rose’s tablet investigators found 95 images and eight video files of child pornography, 633 image and 73 video files containing material that is sexually exploitative of children, and one image and one video file containing bestiality. On Rose’s cell phone, investigators found 35 images of child pornography, 590 images of children being sexually exploited, and one image and 11 video files of bestiality. In Rose’s Mega account, which was accessed through his cell telephone, investigators found 593 images and 680 videos of child pornography, 1,070 images and 297 videos of children being sexually exploited, and one image and 11 videos of rape and/or bondage.

Also found in Rose’s Mega account was a folder titled “neighbor yng girls.” That folder contained images and videos of children in Rose’s neighborhood, which appear to have been created from Rose’s garage or behind a parked vehicle in his driveway. In another folder titled “pool,” there were images and videos of children at Rose’s neighborhood pool.  

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Springfield, Mo., 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."