A Missouri man, previously registered as a sex offender, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and admitted to distributing the material to an unexpected recipient—his girlfriend's father. Stephen Curtis Mincey Watters, aged 39, from Farmington, acknowledged his crimes in the U.S. District Court in St. Louis on a count of possessing such illicit content as a prior offender, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In a concerning revelation, Watters confessed to having sent four images via Facebook on Aug. 3, 2023 which contained child sexual abuse material to his girlfriend's father, an act that prompted a report to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. Subsequently, on Sept. 28, 2023, the Missouri State Highway Patrol executed a search of Watters' residence, at which point Watters admitted to authorities his engagement with such illicit content. During the investigation, officers discovered communication between Watters and the girlfriend's father, Brandel Lee Akers, that revealed disturbing discussions about molesting children in the neighborhood and in their family, according to details obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Watters is slated to receive his sentence on May 7, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommending a prison term of 12 years for the offenses. Meanwhile, Akers, now serving a five-year sentence, had previously pled guilty to possessing child pornography himself, after admitting that Watters had been supplying him the material for around a year through texts and Facebook.
This case, a component of the nationwide initiative dubbed Project Safe Childhood, highlights ongoing efforts to counter the exploitation and abuse of children over the internet. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, the program has since been deploying an array of federal, state, and local resources aimed at prosecuting individuals involved in child exploitation and locating and rescuing the victims, the initiative is spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice Criminal Division. The current prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson, with the investigations being a coordinated effort between the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team.
