East Prairie man sentenced to prison for child porn

An East Prairie, Missouri, man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on a child pornography charge.

Elijah G. Riley, 27, was ordered to serve 135 months in federal prison for the offense of distribution of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Officials announced that Riley appeared for his sentencing hearing Thursday, Nov. 3, before U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau.

According to court documents, an undercover agent with the FBI began communicating with Riley on a social messaging application in August 2021. During the course of their communications, Riley sent a video depicting an adult male sexually abusing a female child. The FBI located Riley days later and placed him under arrest. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Riley admitted he used the internet to send the child pornography video to the agent. After serving his 135-month sentence, Riley will be placed on supervised release for a period of 20 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.