KC Reporter

A Joplin, Mo., chiropractor was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography.

Eric Hedman, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to seven years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Hedman to 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.

Hedman will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison and will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply throughout his life.

Hedman, who operated his own practice at Hedman Chiropractic at the time of the offense, pleaded guilty on Dec. 14, 2023, to receiving and distributing child pornography.

Hedman sent a video and a photo of child pornography to two other users of the Kik messenger in July and August 2022. Kik made two Cybertipline Reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which forwarded the reports to the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force for investigation.

Investigators searched Hedman's multiple Kik accounts and discovered 31 files that contained child pornography. The images depicted children as young as two years old. Additionally, log files indicated that Hedman had transmitted child pornography to at least six other users on July 8 and 9, 2022.

On Dec. 6, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hedman's residence and seized his computer and cell phone.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.

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."