A Hazelwood man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of producing child pornography, with the sentencing delivered by U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Monday; Antjuan Potts, 27, admitted to sexually exploiting two children and his criminal activities were said to have occurred from 2019 to 2022, a case that underscores a persistent societal scourge.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, one of the victims brought the case to light after telling a detective from the St. Louis County Police Department that she was 14 when Potts began to record their sexual encounters and utilized Snapchat to distribute the sensitive material; another minor who said that she was in a relationship with Potts was also involved in these crimes and Potts inexorably confessed to having sex and documenting it with his phone.
Further investigations revealed that Potts engaged in sexual conduct with two other victims, forming a harrowing pattern of abuse against minors—a 15-year-old reported a sexual assault in 2020 which Potts claimed was consensual, while a 14-year-old conveyed to authorities she had been drugged and assaulted a year later; these narratives weave a bleak tapestry of exploitation and utter disregard for youth and innocence.
During the sentencing, Judge Ross addressed Potts, saying, "You have caused a tremendous amount of harm," acknowledging the irreparable trauma inflicted upon the four young victims, as mentioned on the U.S. Attorney's Office, the proceedings sending forth a clarion call for justice and reflective of the systemic work being done under Project Safe Childhood, a broad-reaching governmental initiative aimed at eliminating the reprehensible cycle of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The efforts of the St. Louis County Police Department led to Potts' prosecution, a move backed by the Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman, with the case serving as a poignant reminder and a stark example within the larger context of Project Safe Childhood—a Department of Justice campaign set into motion since May 2006 geared toward the robust amalgamation of federal, state, and local resources to proactively target those preying on children through the internet, while also endeavoring to rescue those who have fallen prey to such despicable acts.
