Local man sentenced for possession of child porn

A Cape Girardeau man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 42 months in prison on felony charges of possession of child pornography.

Michael D. Duley, 39, pleaded guilty July 10.

Law enforcement received an anonymous tip about Duley, who at the time worked as a nurse, in the fall of 2005, federal prosecutor Abbie Crites-Leoni said.

When questioned on Oct. 2, 2006, Duley admitted to using the name "Nathaniel Poteat" on an online account and the screen-name "boizsox" for three years.

He used the account to acquire child pornography on his work computer. He saved illicit images on the hard drive, but deleted and dumped files to keep from getting caught.

Nearly 150 still-image files containing sexually explicit photos of minors, some of children younger than 12, were downloaded by Duley, according to a news release from Catherine L. Hanaway, federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The computer Duley used at his workplace was seized and analyzed, Crites-Leoni said.

"This sentence should send a message to those who believe they can possess images of underage children without any consequence: You will be prosecuted, and you will serve a lengthy sentence," Hanaway said in a prepared statement.

The case was brought as a result of Project Safe Childhood, a year-old initiative created by former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez with the intention of protecting children from online abuse and exploitation.

After Duley is released from prison, he will remain under the supervision of local authorities for the rest of his life.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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