Poplar Bluff man pleads guilty to child porn

A Poplar Bluff, Mo., man faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Monday morning to producing child pornography.

David L. Cathey, 62, of the 300 block of West Relief Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography before U.S. District Judge John A. Ross.

Ross set sentencing for Dec. 16. Cathey faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment on each count and/or a $250,000 fine, as well as a lifetime term of supervised release.

With his plea, Cathey admitted that over a period of several years he took photographic images of two girls whom he caused to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Both children were younger than 12 years old when Cathey began taking the photographs.

The indictment had alleged visual depictions of the sexually explicit conduct were made between Feb. 6, 2004, and March 13, 2004.

Cathey reportedly stored some of the sexually explicit images on a CD. The images of the children were discovered when Cathey sold his computer and failed to remove the CD.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood and was investigated by the Poplar Bluff Police Department, Butler County Sheriff's Department, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI.