SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man who is a registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving child pornography, which was discovered on his cell phone during an investigation into threats he made to a sheriff’s department employee.
Joshua Emanuel Wood, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush 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.
The investigation began when Wood left 41 threatening voice mail messages on May 29 and 30, 2022, for the employee of the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department who was in charge of registering sex offenders. The sex offender registrar reported those threats and law enforcement officers arrested Wood on May 31, 2022.
Wood had a Google Pixel cell phone in his possession when he was arrested. Investigators found child sexual abuse material on the phone, including 107 images of child pornography, web 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 in federal prison without parole, up to 40 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.