An Owensville man arrested in July has been charged with 13 counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials after investigators say they found images of minors in a sexualized manner on his cellphone. Wilbur Krumrey, who has been staying near Owensville City Park, was served a $100,000 cash-only bond warrant following the discovery, according to court documents.
The case began on July 26, when a woman and her brother went to the Owensville Police Department to report an assault by Krumrey, as reported by ABC 17 News. During that visit, the woman told investigators she had seen child sex abuse files on Krumrey's cellphone, according to a probable cause statement. That disclosure prompted authorities to apply for a search warrant for the phone, per court documents.
Krumrey allowed investigators to examine his cellphone, according to court documents cited in the outlet's reporting. Authorities executed the search warrant on August 10, and the search led to the discovery of at least 13 child sex abuse files on the device, per court documents. Krumrey was formally charged on August 14 with 13 counts of possessing child sex abuse materials. No mugshot was available as of Monday.
What Missouri Law Says About the Charges
Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 573.037, possessing child sexual abuse material is classified as a Class D felony for a single still image, but the charge elevates to a Class B felony if an offender possesses more than 20 still images, any video file, or has a prior conviction, according to the statute as detailed by Bur Oak Injury Law. That distinction means the exact forensic inventory recovered from Krumrey's phone could ultimately shape how severe his sentencing exposure becomes.
A Class D felony in Missouri carries a sentence of up to seven years in state prison or up to one year in county jail, plus potential fines reaching $10,000, per Missouri Revised Statutes § 558.011. If additional forensic analysis were to push the case into Class B felony territory, the statute specifies a prison term of 5 to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, with offenders required to serve at least half the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Any conviction under Chapter 573 of the Missouri Revised Statutes would also require Krumrey to register as a sex offender on the Missouri State Highway Patrol's public Sex Offender Registry upon release, per state law noted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Case Moves Through Regional Circuit Court
Felony prosecutions originating in Gasconade County, including cases from Owensville, fall under the jurisdiction of Missouri's 20th Judicial Circuit Court, which also serves Franklin and Osage counties, according to court records referenced by Missouri Courts data. Since August 2020, the City of Owensville has routed its municipal court operations through that same circuit system, with associate circuit matters processed in Osage County Circuit Court in Linn, per the city's own records.
Owensville is a fourth-class city with a 2020 Census population of 2,757, sitting in south-central Gasconade County along Missouri Highways 28 and 19, roughly 70 miles southwest of St. Louis and 55 miles southeast of Jefferson City. Investigations into digital child sexual abuse material in central Missouri are typically coordinated through local police departments alongside the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which pools forensic resources for digital search warrants and phone examinations.
Part of a Broader National and Local Pattern
The scale of digital CSAM reporting nationally is immense: the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline received more than 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2024, with electronic service providers reporting nearly 63 million related files, according to NCMEC data.
The Krumrey case also follows other recent Gasconade County prosecutions. In February, Hoodline reported a Hermann sex offender jailed without bond after county prosecutors filed second-degree child molestation and incest charges tied to an out-of-state disclosure. That defendant was held without bond in nearby Franklin County. It remains unclear whether Krumrey's forensic phone analysis is complete or whether additional files could still surface that might affect the charges he faces.
