JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A former southwest Missouri police officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole for receiving and distributing child pornography.
Gary McKinney, 44, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to the charge in August. He will be required to be on supervised release for life and will be subject to sex offender registration requirements after his release from prison.
McKinney was an officer in Joplin for seven years before leaving in May 2006 to serve short stints with the Webb City and Duquesne police departments. He retired from law enforcement and was operating a plumbing business in Joplin in recent years, The Joplin Globe reported.
Investigators were led to McKinney after an investigation that began when they received a tip someone had uploaded a video of the sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl.
That person was Anthony Helsel, 32, of Joplin, who has pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and sex trafficking of a minor and will be sentenced April 6.
Investigators determined Helsel had been communicating with others regarding child pornography, which eventually led to McKinney. During a search of his home, agents found 506 images and 148 videos of child pornography on McKinney’s phone.
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