Evergreen Reporter

A resident of Florissant, Missouri, acknowledged in a St. Louis court on Wednesday that he possessed materials related to child sexual abuse. Christopher A. Wheetley, 42, entered a guilty plea on one count of receipt of child pornography. Law enforcement discovered 470 images and a video containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his computer. Additional findings included 1,081 images and four videos of children whose ages could not be determined and internet searches showing interest in CSAM.

The investigation was initiated by a St. Louis County Police Department detective who identified CSAM on September 12, 2023, through an online "peer-to-peer" investigation. This material was linked back to an IP address associated with Wheetley's home. Previous investigations had already noted this address due to a cyber-tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on November 10, 2020. The tip referenced 40 files containing CSAM uploaded to the app Kik in October from the same IP address.

Prior to the receipt of this tip, Wheetley had pleaded no contest to child pornography possession charges in California. He was completing probation related to this conviction when detectives arrived at his Florissant residence to follow up on the cyber-tip.

Wheetley, having a previous distribution of child pornography conviction, could face a minimum of 15 years in prison. Both the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Wheetley's lawyer are recommending a 15-year sentence, with the sentencing scheduled for July 17.

The investigation of this case was carried out by the St. Louis County Police Department in collaboration with the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is handling the prosecution.

This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse. Started by the Department of Justice in May 2006, the project leverages federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders using the internet to exploit children and to rescue those affected. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.