Webster Groves Man Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of one pre-teen girl and sexually abused two other children to 35 years in prison.

Aaron Pratt, 38, of Webster Groves, Missouri, pleaded guilty in January to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted that he sexually abused a girl for approximately two years when she was between the ages of 10 and 12 and recorded the abuse on his cell phone. Pratt admitted sexually abusing two other juveniles, ages 7 and 11, at their home in another state.

Pratt also admitted possessing over 28,000 images and videos of other minors on various electronic devices.

The Webster Groves Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the FBI and the Hamilton Township (Ohio) Police Department 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.