ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from Jefferson County, Missouri appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Monday to face a new child pornography charge.
Patrick Mayberry, 44, of High Ridge, was charged by complaint on Dec. 8, 2023, with receipt and distribution of child pornography as a prior offender. A criminal complaint says that after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about a Google user who had allegedly uploaded child sexual abuse material, the St. Louis County Police Department learned Mayberry may be selling child pornography that he obtained on the dark web to others.
The charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.