CAPE GIRARDEAU – The United States Attorney’s Office announced that Samuel J. Gillam, age 37, of Iron County, Missouri, has been sentenced to serve 240 months (20 years) in federal prison for the offense of Receiving Child Pornography. Gillam appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, law enforcement officials interviewed a 16-year-old female during a sexual abuse investigation and discovered, among other things, that she sent sexually explicit images of herself to Gillam. Investigators subsequently seized Gillam’s mobile phone and found the images. At his guilty plea hearing last February, Gillam admitted that he received the images from the minor female. During the sentencing hearing, Judge Limbaugh determined that the aggravated nature of Gillam’s conduct—including the fact that he had been sexually abusing the minor female—justified the statutory maximum 20-year sentence.
After serving his 20-year sentence, Gillam was ordered to be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life. Gillam will also be required to register as a sex offender.
This case was investigated by the Iron County Sheriff’s Office the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.