KC Reporter

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A U.S. Marine Corps private, Gevoni Rayon Brown, stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole for transporting child pornography across state lines. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool on Tuesday.

Brown, 23, was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release after his incarceration and to pay $24,000 in restitution to eight victims of child pornography found on his cell phone. Additionally, he must register as a sex offender upon release and comply with federal and state sex offender registration requirements for life.

According to court records, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of transporting child pornography on Sept. 21, 2023. He confessed to exchanging sexually explicit videos with a 15-year-old female in California while communicating through social media platforms. Brown was stationed in Florida at the time of the conversations before being relocated to North Carolina and eventually to Fort Leonard Wood for training.

The investigation into Brown's activities was a collaborative effort involving multiple agencies, as stated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. The case was pursued with the involvement of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Division, Homeland Security Investigations, local police departments, and cybercrime task forces in Missouri and California.

The raid on Brown's barracks room at Fort Leonard Wood on Dec. 14, 2022, led to the seizure of two cell phones containing child pornography. Brown admitted to carrying these devices with him on the plane when he traveled to Missouri.

This prosecution falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood coordinates efforts across various law enforcement agencies to track down, apprehend, and prosecute individuals involved in exploiting children, while also focusing on victim identification and rescue.

For more information on Project Safe Childhood and Internet safety education, visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.