A 24-year-old Holts Summit man is headed to prison for 25 years after admitting to a string of child-sex crimes that investigators say first came to light when a witness reported explicit online messages in late 2024.
Court filings identify the defendant as Memphis Dils, who is now in state custody following his guilty plea and sentencing on Monday.
According to ABC17 News, Dils pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, one count of possessing child sex-abuse material and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. The outlet reports the sentence was handed down on Monday, June 1, and notes that court documents indicate the victim was younger than 16 when the abuse began.
Booking And County Roster
County records show Dils was booked into the Callaway County Jail in October 2024 on multiple statutory-sodomy and witness-tampering charges, and he remains listed on the jail’s online roster. The Callaway County Sheriff's Office roster lists his booking number and the earlier charges that led to the indictment. Those entries reflect the original allegations that prosecutors later resolved through the guilty plea.
What Court Documents Say
As detailed by ABC17 News, court documents say a witness told Callaway County dispatchers they had seen messages from Dils on the victim’s Instagram account and later confronted him over Facebook Messenger. Investigators reviewed that Messenger exchange and say Dils "admitted to everything," according to the filings. That online confession became a central piece of evidence in the plea negotiations that led to Monday’s sentence.
Missouri Law And Penalties
Under Missouri law, statutory sodomy in the second degree applies when an adult has "deviate sexual intercourse" with someone under 17 and is classified as a felony. That definition is laid out in Section 566.064 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.
Possession of child pornography is also a felony in Missouri, with penalties that depend on the number and type of images involved. Those rules are set out in Section 573.037 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.
The state’s sex-offender registration requirements, which mandate registration with local law enforcement for certain convictions, are outlined in Section 589.400 of the Missouri Revised Statutes.
What Comes Next
Sentencing documents and plea paperwork are filed with the Callaway County Circuit Court, whose clerk maintains public records for the county. The court’s website, available through the Callaway County Circuit Court page, includes information on how to request those filings.
Any future motions, appeals or records of supervised release in Dils’ case will appear on the court docket and on the sheriff’s inmate roster as the case moves forward.
