KC Reporter

A Springfield, Missouri man, Marvin E. Smith, 44, has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison without parole for receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark handed down the sentence and also imposed a lifetime of supervised release following Smith's incarceration.

Smith had pleaded guilty on March 5, 2024, to one count of receiving child pornography. The investigation began when Smith’s state parole officer found images of child pornography on his cell phone on February 8, 2023. The following day, a microSD card containing additional files was discovered taped to the back of Smith’s television at the halfway house where he lived. Investigators uncovered over 6,400 files depicting child pornography on the card.

Smith's criminal history includes prior felony convictions for possessing child pornography and residing within close proximity to a school. At the time of this federal offense, he was on parole after being released from state prison eight months earlier.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan and investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Springfield Police Department.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project involves collaboration between federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.