A Springfield man who is a registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to receiving child pornography.
Investigators found illegal images on the man's cell phone during an look into threats he made to a sheriff’s department employee.
Joshua Emanuel Wood, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. Wood is required to register as a sex offender due to his 2018 conviction of possessing child pornography.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, the investigation began when Wood left 41 threatening voicemail messages on May 29 and 30, 2022, for the employee of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office who was in charge of registering sex offenders. The sex offender registrar reported the threats, and law enforcement officers arrested Wood on May 31, 2022.
Wood had a cell phone when he was arrested. Investigators found data containing sexual abuse of children on the phone, including 107 images of child pornography, internet searches for child pornography, and visits to suspected child pornography websites.
Under federal statutes, Wood is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of up to 40 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be held at a later date.
Wood is being held in the Greene County Jail.
