A Springfield man has been sentenced to life in prison and four adult women have been sentenced for their roles in a child exploitation enterprise that included a toddler, incest and bestiality.
At least three children were victims, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri.
Kevin Grant McMillan, 36, of Springfield, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to life in federal prison without parole.
Each of the five defendants pleaded guilty to exploiting children from Jan. 1, 2017, to Nov. 6, 2019. They admitted to felony violations that included the sexual exploitation of minors and receiving and distributing child pornography.
Angela Marie Brown, 39, Christine Marie Rossiter, 36, and Amber Marie Baley, 38, all of Springfield, and Casie Dee Rice, 52, of Branson, also were sentenced without parole in separate appearances in court Tuesday.
Brown was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
Rossiter was sentenced to 10 years.
Baley was sentenced to eight years.
Rice was sentenced to four years.
Baley and Rossiter were also sentenced to spend the rest of their lives on supervised release following their incarceration.
Each will be required to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.
Federal probe coincides with SGF police investigation
The federal investigation began in May 2019 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified law enforcement agents that McMillan had uploaded three files of child pornography to the internet through his Gmail account.
Springfield police were investigating McMillan in a separate case involving an 8-year-old victim. Springfield investigators found additional Google accounts that contained images of child pornography.
On Nov. 6, 2019, officers executed a search warrant at McMillan’s residence, where they contacted a 15-year-old victim, according to the press release.
Officers seized five laptops, two hard drives, an Apple iPad, a cell phone, and seven USB/micro SD cards.
A forensic analyst found images of child pornography depicting Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, and a third victim, a toddler identified in court documents as Jane Doe 3.
There were a total of 27,542 pornographic images and videos of subjects whose age is difficult to determine; 682 images and videos of bestiality pornography; and 111 videos and images of child exploitive animated pornography.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and Springfield police.