PRESS RELEASE

St. Joseph Man Sentenced to 23 Years for Producing Child Pornography

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Sexually Exploited Three Child Victims

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A St. Joseph, Mo., man who produced pornographic images of three child victims and shared them online was sentenced in federal court today for producing and possessing child pornography.

Tyler B. Wirth, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 23 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Wirth to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration, and ordered him to pay $14,381 in victim restitution.

Wirth 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.

On Jan. 17, 2023, Wirth pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. Wirth admitted that he produced pornographic images of three children, which he distributed to multiple users on the Kik application during his sexual conversations with them.

Wirth admitted that he communicated extensively with others over the Kik application in July and August 2020 about his desire to sexually abuse children. Wirth produced child pornography to distribute to other users within these Kik chats, taking pornographic photos of three child victims. He also discussed with numerous Kik users his desire to sexually abuse the child victims, and repeatedly asked for guidance from other Kik users on how he should go about sexually abusing them.

Wirth received hundreds of images and videos of child pornography from other Kik users, and distributed numerous other images and videos of child pornography from his possession of child pornography, which included over a thousand images and videos of child pornography.

Wirth entered chat rooms on Kik, which provided a forum for users to discuss the sexual exploitation of minors, as well as trade and shares images and videos of child pornography. He fully participated in these chat rooms and then engaged in private communications with other like-minded individuals where he discussed his desires to sexually exploit children. He routinely asked for advice on how to go about sexually abusing minors, and whether those other Kik users had any tips for how he could do so.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Wirth’s residence on Aug. 10, 2020. Officers seized Wirth’s electronic media and cell phone. Wirth possessed hundreds of other videos and images of child pornography on his cell phone.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Borgnino. It was investigated by the FBI.

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."