KC Reporter

A registered sex offender from Springfield, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography. The illegal material was discovered on his cell phone during an investigation into threats he made to a sheriff’s department employee.

Joshua Emanuel Wood, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Following his incarceration, Wood will also serve 10 years of supervised release as ordered by the court.

On Dec. 12, 2023, Wood pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. He is required to register as a sex offender due to his 2018 conviction of possessing child pornography.

The investigation began when Wood left 41 threatening voice mail messages on May 29 and 30, 2022, for the employee of the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department who was in charge of registering sex offenders. The registrar reported these threats and law enforcement officers arrested Wood; the state felony charge related to this harassment is still pending.

Upon his arrest, investigators found child sexual abuse material on Wood's Google Pixel cell phone. This included 107 images of child pornography, featuring depictions of infants being raped, web searches for child pornography and visits to suspected child pornography websites.

According to court documents, forensic analysis revealed that Wood had been frequently wiping his cell phone and the child pornography files had been received over a period of just a few days. Due to this regular wiping activity, it is difficult to determine the full extent of his involvement with child pornography.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan and investigated by several agencies including the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Springfield Police Department.

The case forms part of Project Safe Childhood - a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, while also working to identify and rescue victims.